‘I’ve had a gutful’: Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale declares war on perpetrators of mystery smell

SOMETHING is literally on the nose in this Queensland city — and its colourful mayor, Paul Pisasale, has “had a gutful” of it.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale has one message for businesses releasing a putrid odour across town: stop it or get out. Picture: Jack Tran

IS this Australia’s stinkiest city?

Something is literally on the nose in Ipswich — and its colourful mayor, Paul Pisasale, has “had a gutful” of it.

The proudly pro-development Mr Pisasale has issued an ultimatum to the region’s industries, who council suspect are flouting waste disposal conditions and making life hell for residents of the Queensland city’s south.

“Get rid of the smell or get out of town, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

“On the Today show we were called the stinky city.

“We work hard to build Ipswich’s reputation and I’m not going to have that.

“I’m not an idiot, the community is not an idiot and I’m not going to tolerate it.”

Landfill has been touted as one possible cause of the stench.

For 20 years, residents on the southern outskirts of the city Mr Pisasale presides over have been complaining of a foul, yet apparently indefinable, stench.

No-one can pinpoint exactly where it is coming from, or what it might be.

Lifelong Raceview resident Joe Llewellyn, 85, who has been living with the odour for two decades, has a simple answer when asked what exactly it smells like.

“A pigsty, I can tell you,” he said.

“You have got to shut all the doors and windows. We don’t like letting it in the house because you can’t get rid of it.”

The culprits are believed to be a variety of waste-disposal and agricultural manufacturing companies that have flocked to set up shop on the abandoned open cut mine sites south of the city, in Swanbank.

Mr Pisasale’s emphatic re-election at this year’s local government poll came partly on the back his pledge to get to the bottom of the problem.

The city of Ipswich, looking towards Swanbank, where the offenders are based. Picture: Tim Marsden

So, he has announced a “smell summit” will take place at the end of October, where all local industry suspected of contributing have been summoned to attend.

In words that seem to flag something of a high noon showdown looming, the tough-talking mayor said he has just one message for those companies who flout their council-imposed operating conditions.

“Do the right thing by the community, fulfil your conditions or get out,” he said.

“We have just done an audit and were trying to determine where the smell was coming from and we have realised that a lot of these people haven’t fulfilled their (development approval) conditions.”

Mr Pisasale said he has worked hard to attract industry to the region in his time in the top job to bolster its economy.

But he said he will have no hesitation in acting if the living conditions of the city’s residents continue to be adversely affected by the mysterious smell.

The production of potting mix has been suggested as a possible cause of the smell.

But at the so-called smell summit, he’ll be doing it behind closed doors.

“The public are not invited because I don’t think the public want to hear what I am going to say,” he said.

Mr Llewellyn said the old mine sites, the closest of which is just one kilometre from his semi-rural acreage, has made Ipswich, “the complete dumping ground for rubbish from all over Australia”.

“There are three landfills where they bring a lot of rubbish from New South Wales and Victoria,” he said.

“It’s been going on for about 20 years, I just get sick of complaining about it.

“It mainly comes from where they are making potting mix.”

Residents have to lock themselves inside some nights to avoid the smell. Picture: Supplied

Mr Llewellyn’s property has, in recent years, been surrounded by new homes, as estates pop up in the area with the city’s growth.

But he said many unsuspecting home buyers don’t realise what they are getting themselves in to.

“In Swanbank, from September to March, we get the smell because of the southeast winds but from March to September, Redbank Plains gets the odour,” he said.

Mr Llewellyn said the wafts of the putrid odour were getting more and more frequent, with about 20 occasions last year when he and his wife had to lock themselves inside the house.

He said, at his age, he has no plans to move, and nor does he think he should have to.

“I’ve got everything here, you know, I’ve got my house and all my friends here,” he said.

“I blame the first mayor who let the first big landfill come here.”

Mr Pisasale said he was going after the industries that were causing or contributing to the smell.

Earlier this year, he said one company found to have been non-compliant with its waste disposal conditions was fined $16,000.

Mr Pisasale was emphatically re-elected mayor earlier this year, partly on the pledge to do something about the smell. Picture: David Kelly

“There are a variety of businesses there that take green waste from council, some take liquid waste from restaurants, which they dispose of in a controlled environment,” he said.

“These are great areas, old mining areas, which are perfect for waste disposal but when council gives you approval, the DA conditions are crucial.

“In the audit we did, we found some were taking waste they shouldn’t be taking or not disposing of it properly.

“The trust has been broken, we are going to start policing it very strongly.

“The residents are no longer going to put up with this nuisance.”

He said 90 per cent of industry in the area were doing the right thing but, as residential construction in the area grew, those doing the wrong thing had to be held accountable.

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