Councillors stall on rubbish tip gate fees despite officers warning of costs to all ratepayers
Officials have warned that all ratepayers would see a jump in their rates bills if fees are not introduced at rubbish tips, as councillors split on the controversial measure. Here’s how much bills could go up.
Gold Coast
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All ratepayers will get increased waste charges of more than $100 in their rate bill unless the Gold Coast City Council introduces gate fees at rubbish tips, warn officers.
In a shock budget reveal, financial modelling shows that for 2025-26 the waste utility charge in general rate notices will increase by an extra $55 — if gates fees are not started.
“That may well increase, based on our modelling, to $80 a year after, then potentially 100-plus the year after that,” an officer said.
Gold Coast City is yet to discuss actual gate fee costs but other councils charge about $15.
In a stunning twist, councillors at the water, waste and energy committee meeting on Tuesday voted 4-3 not to introduce gate fees or close several smaller tips.
But all councillors will get to vote on these controversial moves at full council next Tuesday.
Officers during the marathon four-hour plus debate at committee were grilled on what would occur if revenue was not recovered at the tip gates.
Deputy Mayor Donna Gates questioning officers about gate fees, utility charges and waste general charges, concerned ratepayers would be hit by a “triple whammy”.
Committee chair Shelley Curtis put forward a recommendation that the charges be debated at future budget meetings.
Those charges would not be introduced without community consultation, she said.
Councillor Brooke Patterson was opposed saying it would turn an “open transparent process into a closed environment”.
Councillor Dan Doran agreed, saying council “haven’t taken the community genuinely on the journey” with the first report mentioned in The Bulletin.
Councillor Glenn Tozer backed Ms Curtis saying no secrecy existed because the waste reforms are being debated with an “open” council report.
Ms Curtis said the budget debate would be “transparent” and residents had been surveyed on waste reforms including recycling.
The vote on that recommendation at committee was lost 4-3.
Mr Doran then moved that council stopped the closure of smaller tips, address illegal dumping and develop a strategy to inform residents about waste costs.
The vote on his recommendation was split, with Cr Curtis using her casting vote. All councillors agreed to defer the matter to full council.
Officers earlier said they supported a user pays system at the tip gate because it was fairer.
The other option was a voucher system which would see a QR codes on rate notices allowing some free visits — but it would impact negatively on revenue and council’s finances.
Charging at the gate would see different levies for a vehicle compared to a ute and trailer.
Officers under questioning from Councillor Peter Young admitted a motorist would still be charged if their vehicle load was split between household goods and green waste.
“I know it won’t sit well, and will be bumpy,” an officer told Mr Young.
Councillor Gail O’Neill said a “conversation” was needed with residents on the options.
“We need to consult on what residents really feel about this. That’s going to be hard. We need to do that step first,” she said.
Officers said waste management costs had “increased quite dramatically” and the revenue stream in terms of getting payment for offloading recyclables and green waste was reducing.
The City was running out of space for landfill and facing continuing financial losses due to a state government’s waste levy.
Their original recommendation in a report by officers was for:
● A residential tip gate fee for household general waste, construction and demolition waste.
● Closure of the Currumbin and Numinbah tips.
● Springbrook tip to no longer take bulky waste and operate four days a week.
● The Merrimac green organics drop and go pad to not be replaced when shut down.
Residents responding to Bulletin reports on the tip charges are split on the options.
Business leader Richard Holliday supports user pays, saying: “Don’t impact all ratepayers, make the easy decision.”
Main Beach and Spit community volunteer Lyn Wright said councils were supposed to be about “roads, rates and rubbish” but had Gold Coast City had “forgotten waste”.
Southport community advocate Samantha Delmege was concerned about the future impact of the decision on the CBD given its history of people dumping items on the kerbside.
“People are struggling as is and it will create more illegal dumping,” she said.
EARLIER: FEARS OF RISE IN ILLEGAL DUMPING
A spike will occur in illegal dumping if gate fees are introduced at waste recycling centres, council has been warned.
Councillors will consider a recommendation from officers to introduce the charges when they meet for a crunch vote on Tuesday to discuss a Waste Network Plan.
The proposed change – first revealed in the Bulletin on Monday – has been described as a “silly move” by some residents, who expressed concern that it would see rubbish dumped on the side of the road, “costing us more to remove”.
In a report, council officers admitted that other councils faced more complaints about waste left in suburban streets once fees were introduced.
Gold Coast City Council in the 2024-25 budget had approved an increase of 49 per cent for the Local Law Enforcement budget to address the issue, they said.
“Other councils have experienced a spike in illegal dumping for up to 12 months post access changes, before levels return to normal,” an officer wrote.
The hotspots for illegal dumping were Southport and Surfers Paradise, with the annual cost to the City of more than $7 million.
Councillor Brooke Patterson confirmed illegal dumping remained a problem in Southport.
“Residents have been recently and consistently raising concerns about people dumping on the street,” she said.
“I wouldn’t be supporting anything that would do anything other than deter that.”
In the past four years, the highest category of dumping has been furniture and household items, accounting for about 40 per cent of materials.
Officers will suggest expanding the bulky kerbside service and increasing City Cleaning services and laws to combat the problem.
The most common infringements are for dumping household goods on the kerb, leaving garden waste in local parks and needles along with syringes on beaches.
Councillors at the Water, Waste and Energy Committee will vote on several recommendations including tip fees and closure of smaller waste recycling centres on Tuesday. The committee’s decision would then be debated at full council for a final vote on February 18.
Committee chair Shelley Curtis said it would be “irresponsible” not to be look at the potential consequences of any major change to the City’s waste strategy.
Research showed a potential 12 month spike in illegal dumping if tip fees were adopted, but it could be mitigated by upgrading other services like cleaning, she said.
“However, it is actually far more important that we concentrate our efforts on the actual root cause of these issues,” Ms Curtis said.
“We are already experiencing illegal dumping at levels that exceed community expectation, despite an extensive WRC (Waste Recycling Centre) network, with limitless, free-to-access tipping for residential customers.
“Clearly there is another causative factor at play, and we perhaps need to be focusing our attention there if we want to see meaningful and sustained improvement, rather than relying on a model that clearly doesn’t solve the problem.”
Ms Curtis said increased access to kerbside collection programs could be a solution.
The Plan does not specify how high the gate fees could be, but as a guide Brisbane City charges $17.40 for general waste and $14.60 for green waste. Tip gate fees at the Sunshine Coast and Ipswich City range from $15 to $18.
Officers have proposed to councillors a number of potential options for charging residents:
* Increase the general Waste Management Utility Charge in your rate bill.
* A user pays model, with gate fees charged at tips from the first visit.
* A user pays system which includes vouchers for a free visit to present at the gate — these would be funded by your waste charge in your rates.
* User pays with a gate fee charge applied from the first visit — to ease the burden, council would expand its annual bulky kerbside service with large blue bags.
A timeline shows the charges would be introduced from October and November this year.
At least $380,000 would need to be budgeted to cover a communication program to be launched citywide in August.
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Originally published as Councillors stall on rubbish tip gate fees despite officers warning of costs to all ratepayers
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