Minister slams Darwin council over Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility closure
Darwin council faces mounting pressure to fully reopen its waste facility as political tensions escalate over the city's post-cyclone clean-up response.
Local Government Minister Steve Edgington has scorned the City of Darwin, calling on the council to re-open its waste management facility after it was closed to the public for four days.
The demand comes less than a week after Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro unleashed her own tirade of complaints against the City of Darwin, which closed the Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility to the public on Saturday ahead of Tropical Cyclone Fina.
The facility was reopened to the public on Wednesday for general waste – food waste, unwanted household items, cardboard, hard waste such as mattresses – however, it was closed for green waste, with the NT Government instead opening a green waste facility at Hidden Valley.
City of Darwin chief executive Simone Saunders said on Mix104.9 this was because “we can [currently] cope with 2500 tonnes of green waste a month – it’s not designed to handle a category three cyclone and we’ve got 170,000 tonnes to process.”
She added the lead agency in an emergency was the NT government, according to the Local Government Act.
“In the government’s [emergency response] plan, they’ve got 23 emergency waste sites nominated,” she said.
“From a federal funding perspective, the funding flows – different from other states where councils might get that funding directly – to the NT government, and the NT government can then claim for a whole lots of things that council can’t.”
In a media release, the local government minister said: “Our essential workers have been slogging it out since Sunday helping Territorians in the clean-up and recovery form Cyclone Fina.”
“We’ve had Palmerston and Litchfield council do their part and open up their waste facilities to assist with the clean-up and allow ratepayers to dump residential and green waste,” Mr Edgington said.
“The NT government opened up the area for green waste at Hidden Valley, but it has now been five days and still City of Darwin has not opened Darwin’s main facility for ratepayers to dispose of residential green waste.”
Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility remained closed to the public in the days after Tropical Cyclone Fina passed, after it was discovered on Sunday an internal road to the landfill site had partially collapsed.
Mr Edgington said the temporary waste management site at Hidden Valley would close to the public for residential green waste on December 7, setting a timeline for when the Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility should be reopened.
Councillor Mick Palmer said in a statement: “It’s disappointing that the NT government is out step with its own emergency management responsibilities in the aftermath of Cyclone Fina.”
“The NT government should continue to honour its obligations as emergency lead and extend its commitment to operating the emergency green waste facility at Hidden Valley beyond Sunday, 7 December,” he said.
“The volume of green waste generated is significant – it’s simply not feasible for Council, commercial operators, nor residents to clear this scale of debris within the time frame announced.
“As the lead agency in emergency management, Territorians rightly expect the NT government to co-ordinate and drive a thorough, whole-of-government response.”
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Originally published as Minister slams Darwin council over Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility closure
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