Council’s plan to fix illegal dumping

COMMERCIAL dumping could add an extra $16,000 to Whitsunday Regional Council’s bill every year, forcing them to take strong measures to lock illegal users out.

In the ordinary council meeting on Wednesday, councillors discussed the pressure on the current waste services at Mount Coolon.

The Mount Coolon landfill provides waste services to 40 residences in the area. However, council officers said the service was being used by commercial businesses which were dumping their waste.

The landfill costs the council about $33,606 a year to maintain and only $4480 is recovered through the refuse facility charge, leaving the council to cover the cost of $29,126. The increase in commercial waste means operational costs for the site have risen to $11,587.

It was predicted that if no action was taken, the site would continue to have an estimated operating cost of $50,000 or more and could attract fines from the Department of Environmental Services for non-compliance.

Councillors resolved to support a submission to the Queensland Government for $150,480 in funding to close the Mount Coolon landfill and establish a new waste transfer station.

The government grant would add to a $37,620 co-contribution from the council.

If successful, the council hoped to build a new $188,100 transfer site with monthly skip bin removal.

CCTV would be installed to monitor users and reduce illegal dumping activities.