Sunshine Coast Council confirms borrowings to build Maroochydore CBD waste system

Sunshine Coast Council borrowed cash to construct its new underground waste system in the Maroochydore city centre which will banish bins.

Mayor Mark Jamieson and Envac Asia Region president Chun Yong Ha formally signed the contract for the $20m underground waste collection system which was officially launched earlier this month.

Council has confirmed it’s borrowed money to pay for the underground vacuum waste system being installed in the new Maroochydore CBD.

Sunshine Coast Council had spent $21m to-date on design and installation of the Envac automated waste collection system (AWCS).

The system was officially opened earlier this month.

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A council social media post on June 8 celebrating the system coming online stated the “cost to build and maintain the waste system is covered by the occupants of the CBD”.

A Sunshine Coast Council post on Facebook claimed the cost to build and maintain the new vacuum waste system in the Maroochydore CBD was covered by occupants of the city centre.

In an initial response to questions a council spokeswoman said the cost to build the new system had been “covered by council’s waste capital works budget” and that cost would be recouped over time “predominantly through the utility charges from the occupants of the CBD”.

Further clarification was sought given there were only a few occupants in the new CBD at present.

A council spokeswoman responded that council “has a loan to pay for the AWCS and the loan will be paid back over time by the occupants of the Maroochydore City Centre PDA (priority development area) through their waste utility charges”.

The spokeswoman said it made “sound financial sense to take advantage of today’s low interest rates to install state-of-the-art underground infrastructure in a greenfield city centre” which would divert waste from landfill, reduce carbon emissions and traffic on local roads, over time.

Sunshine Coast Council’s 2020-21 revenue statement showed a breakdown of the domestic and commercial waste management utility charges within the new city centre.

One-bedroom domestic premises would be charged $212.40 a year, slightly less than the $218.40 a year for two-bedroom domestic premises.

Total annual charges $for commercial premises ranged from $212.40 to $370 per 100sq m of gross floor area, with minimum charges of those amounts also applicable.