Council’s ‘Operation Clean Up’ use kerbside collection, skip bins to clear 75,000 truckloads of waste from Gold Coast

Council has revealed how it plans to clear an estimated 80 football fields worth of waste and debris from the Gold Coast in the wake of extreme storms and flooding. Read Friday’s updates here.

An estimated 80 football fields – or 75,000 truckloads – of waste will need to be cleared from the Gold Coast in the wake of storms and flooding.

Council will assist residents with clearing the masses of green waste and storm debris from their properties through Operation Clean Up, offering kerbside collection and skip bins to homes on nearly 700 impacted streets.

Program director Ainslie Buffett said a website would launch early next week for residents to find out when their area would be targeted and track the city’s recovery effort.

Ms Buffett said heavily impacted suburbs across the city’s north would be among those prioritised.

Partner agencies will visit homes two days ahead of council trucks to offer assistance with cutting down or moving their waste kerbside.

Premier Steven Miles and Mayor Tom Tate look at Gold Coast Storm Damage. Pic Annette Dew

Residents are asked to ensure their waste is on the roadside the day before their scheduled pick-up and to separate green waste from other debris.

Ms Buffett said council would also offer help to residents in areas where kerbside pick-up was not available, including skip bins and grants for eligible residents.

“Clean-up work is already underway and as part of this the city has removed load limits on green waste for domestic customers and waived commercial green waste fees,” she said.

“We have had more than 45 crews out clearing our roads and parks of dangerous debris and we are increasing this every day.”

The clean up of storm damage continues across Northern Gold Coast suburbs. A council workman clears fallen trees along Discovery Drive. . Picture Glenn Hampson

Operating hours at the council’s Pimpama, Molendinar, Reedy Creek, and Stapylton waste facilities have been extended from 6am to 6pm.

Mayor Tom Tate urged residents to check in on their neighbours who may be isolated or otherwise struggling and contact council if they needed help.

He said the 50 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel now on the ground were tackling the debris preventing Energex from restoring power, and that he would reassess whether he asked them to extend their stay in the coming days.

Assistant Police Commissioner and Deputy State Recovery Coordinator Ben Marcus said authorities had marked the beginning of the 2024 school year on January 22 as a “logical destination” to work towards.

“We as a community need to understand that in two weeks’ time, we have to get kids from the end of their school holidays back into the school year,” he said.

“That means roads have to run, buses have to run, parents have to be able to provide the schoolbags, the books (and) uniforms.

“Once we’ve got kids back at school, we will be able to see which ones are struggling – disaster has psychological impacts on people and it’s our ability to pick that up through the system.”

Funding unlocked for more Gold Coast suburbs

Disaster hardship funding has now been activated for the entire Gold Coast region.

Grants of $180 per person or $900 for families have been made available to eligible residents following the devastating storms and flooding of the Christmas and New Year period.

Residents in the following suburbs can now apply: Benowa, Broadbeach, Broadbeach Waters, Bundall, Clear Island Waters, Gilberton, Highland Park, Jacobs Well, Main Beach, Mermaid Beach, Mermaid Waters, Norwell, Southern Moreton Bay Islands, Stapylton, Steiglitz, Surfers Paradise, Wongoolba, and Yatala.

Click here or call the Queensland Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349 for more information.

Heartwarming effort in Helensvale

Devastated by both severe weather and personal loss, Helensvale resident Warren Cavanagh could not be blamed for focusing on his own family.

Instead, the father of two is co-ordinating a massive clean-up effort for an elderly couple he barely knew prior to the freak Christmas night storm that smashed their community.

Mr Cavanagh returned home from his father’s funeral interstate to find the savage weather had destroyed part of his roof, leaving his family home covered in debris and exposed to the elements.

Already facing his own clean-up effort, he sprang into action to help Ron and Kerry Bury – fellow residents of River Downs estate – when he saw the older couple were quoted up to $10,000 just to have trees cleared from their property.

“I don’t know (Ron), but I know he hasn’t been well,” Mr Cavanagh said.

“My dad was a pensioner and my mum’s in an aged-care home – if they got hit with that bill, that’s a big hit out of the pension.”

Mr Cavanagh rallied a clean-up crew to tackle the debris on Saturday, with close to a dozen people with chainsaws and even bobcats enlisted to help the Burys.

Mrs Bury said their community’s kindness was “overwhelming” and had initially been difficult for her proud husband – who had suffered several strokes and heart attacks – to accept.

“We’ve never asked for help before in anything,” she said.

“We’re just going to get them cold drinks and put on a barbecue for them – we have to do something for them, and if there’s any way I can help this man to repay them, I will.

“If you don’t give in life, you don’t get back – that’s always been my thing.”

The couple’s daughter Lisa White said she believed the gesture was “good karma” for her parents, who were active in charities and the community.

“For them to have somebody come and give back to them – it’s not about them, it’s about someone else stepping up and saying, ‘I’ll help out’.”

‘Like Yasi’: Exhausted clean-up crews on Gold Coast aftermath

Exhausted clean-up crews say the destruction left behind by the Christmas and New Year’s weather events can only be compared to that of a severe cyclone.

Another 20 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel are due to join the 33 already involved in the Gold Coast recovery effort on Friday.

It comes after Premier Steven Miles announced a $1m grant for the Gold Coast and another two council areas to fast-track the clearing of trees and debris before more storms hit the region.

The Premier Steven Miles visits the ADF who have moved in to help in the clean up at Kriedeman Road in Wongawallan after ferocious storms damaged the Gold Coast area. Pics Adam Head

Close to 3000 Tamborine Mountain homes remain without power as of Friday morning, in addition to another several hundred across Wongawallan, Guanaba and Upper Coomera.

While a mammoth effort from crews saw nearly 2500 households with restored power on Thursday, an Energex spokesperson said they were entering the toughest stretch of their disaster response on Friday.

“The community is exhausted, our teams are feeling the grind of long, hard days and the gains are hard-won,” they said.

“Even now it’s hard to comprehend the scale of this disaster. Up on the ridges and the hills, trees are splintered and stripped.

“The only thing we can compare it to is the aftermath of a severe cyclone like 2011’s Yasi.

Side-by-side comparisons of the destruction in storm-battered Wongawallan (left) with that of Mission Beach after Cyclone Yasi in 2011. Picture: Energex

“That’s why every home we reconnect, every street we get on generation, feels like Christmas (a good Christmas – not the rubbish one we’ve just had).”

The Energex spokesperson said they’d been fielding questions about who was responsible for poles on a resident’s property.

“We’re responsible for the distribution network, including the service lines that supply individual premises,” they said.

“This can be up the point of attachment to a building, or to a private property pole.

Clean up on Mt Tamborine. Locals helping locals recover. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Private poles are those within your boundary that only support the lines that go to your home or your other buildings, and no other customers.

“They’re the responsibility of the property owner and if they’ve been damaged, they need to be inspected and repaired by a licensed electrical contractor before we can reconnect you to the network.

“We can’t and won’t risk you and your family by restoring supply to a pole or any other electrical infrastructure if it there are any signs of damage – it could be extremely dangerous.”

Residents and clean-up crews were also feeling the sting of another kind – hordes of mosquitoes brought on by the extreme rainfall.

Helensvale resident Jordan Summers said the northern Gold Coast suburb was under fire from the bitey insects, sharing a photo of dozens glued to a window.

Helensvale resident Jordan Summers said they had to bring their dogs inside to protect them from the swarms of mozzies outside. Picture: Facebook/Jordan Summers

“Had to let my dogs inside because they were getting smashed by the little buggers,” they said.

According to a Gold Coast City Council alert, crews will begin spraying several suburbs on Friday and Saturday to reduce the insect’s booming population, weather permitting.

These include: Arundel, Coombabah, Coomera, Helensvale, Hope Island, Jacobs Well, Pimpama, South Stradbroke, and Steiglitz.

Misting is due to begin in Upper Coomera early Tuesday.

Originally published as Council’s ‘Operation Clean Up’ use kerbside collection, skip bins to clear 75,000 truckloads of waste from Gold Coast