Call for action in cleaning Bundaberg waterways of dangerous needles receives mixed response

A fisherman passionate about cleaning up says he’s found 5000 needles a stone’s throw from children’s tennis courts, and a popular shopping centre, and is calling for council action.

A Bundaberg fisherman has called for council candidates to commit to proactive cleaning of a creek running through the CBD where he has found nearly 5000 dangerous syringes in the past year.

Over the past 15 years Glenn Rumsey, a commercial fisherman, has found discarded needles in council-owned land near Saltwater Creek, a tributary of the Burnett River that winds through the edge of the Bundaberg CBD.

MORE NEWS: Mapped: Suburbs where burglaries are out of control

The fisherman is also the founder of Burnett River Clean, a not-for-profit organisation devoted to keeping waterways around Bundaberg clean and clear of rubbish.

Mr Rumsey said he had seen an alarming increase over the past 12 months of needles strewn on the ground in bushland close to children’s tennis courts and a stone’s throw from Hinkler Central.

He said he collected 4700 needles throughout 2023 in the 20sq m area, with bedding and discarded clothes suggesting it was frequented by intravenous drug users.

Needles and sharps containers are strewn around the 20sq m area, with bedding and discarded clothes suggesting it is an area frequented by intravenous drug users.

Mr Rumsey’s main concern is that children could easily injure themselves with the needles, whether accidentally or by playing with them without understanding the dangers of doing so, and contract infections that could lead to serious health conditions.

While many of the needles are found within yellow sharps containers distributed by Queensland Health, Mr Rumsey feels that children could injure themselves by playing with the containers.

“My primary concern is I don’t think that too many children would have had hepatitis and tetanus shots,” Mr Rumsey said.

“And the first thing they’re going to is pull the top off and stick their finger on a needle, or stick it in their arm or something like that.”

The site on Saltwater Creek is near junior tennis courts and a stone's throw from Hinkler Central shopping centre.

Mr Rumsey has spoken with the Bundaberg Regional Council, including incumbent mayor Jack Dempsey, but has been disappointed with a lack of action in terms of proactive cleaning of the site and educational initiatives to ensure the public are aware of the risks associated with needles and the sharps containers.

“I’d like to see people commit to at least educating people and owning it,” Mr Rumsey said.

“But they just don’t want nothing to do with it.”

The issue has become a topic of hot debate during the current election campaign, with mayoral candidate Helen Blackburn posting publicly of her concern with the state of the region’s waterways and “the lack of support provided by Bundaberg Regional Council for (Mr Rumsey) to dump what he finds on the rivers”.

Division 10 candidate Steve Clark viewed the site with Mr Rumsey, and said if elected he would investigate how council services could better be used to keep the area clear of syringes.

Division 10 candidate Steve Clark said if elected he would investigate how council services could better be used to keep the area clear of syringes.

“I was shocked to see the site and its proximity to the CBD and how easily kids or anyone could access the area,” he said.

“It poses a danger to the community … it’s definitely something I would be interested in trying to look at.”

Councillor Tracey McPhee, in whose Division 4 area the Saltwater Creek site is located, had also visited the area with Mr Rumsey and found “a dozen or more” needles, although in areas she said were not easily accessible by the public.

Ms McPhee also said she would support a review of proactive cleaning of the area, but noted all residents had a shared responsibility to keep public areas clean and safe, including the drug users who were discarding the syringes.

Division 4 councillor Tracey McPhee said she would support an investigation into the economic viability of regular cleaning of "known hotspots".

“If there are known hotspots in areas where the public are frequenting, I would support investigating the cost to ratepayers for regular cleaning,” Ms McPhee said.

“It’s an unrealistic expectation to have the entire river and creek systems free of disused needles.

“As everywhere, I think the entire community shares responsibility — this isn’t unique to Bundaberg.

“It would be great if the people who are using the needles disposed of them appropriately and then we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

“Unfortunately, many don’t have the capacity to consider themselves so we have little hope of them considering others.”

Mr Dempsey also said public safety of residents was a responsibility shared by all residents, with drug users having an individual responsibility to dispose of the syringes carefully.

“We’re just asking people to take responsibility, because I’m sure they would hate it that their actions hurt a complete stranger or even a loved one,” he said.

Mr Dempsey stopped short of committing council services to proactively clean the area and encouraged members of the public to contact council if they see discarded needles.

MORE NEWS: ‘Writhing in pain’: 90yo’s three-hour wait for ambulance

“We encourage people like Burnett River Clean join Clean Up Australia, and to dispose of these items in a careful way,” he said.

“And we encourage all the community, if they have see these items, to contact the council or other relevant authorities, because there might be suspicious behaviour around it as well.”