Businesses caught off guard by Darwin City Council’s $75 surprise price hike on minimum charge for discarding rubbish

Businesses have been caught off guard by a 370 per cent price hike by Darwin City Council on discarding rubbish at the city’s waste management facility.

BUSINESSES have been caught off guard by a 370 per cent price hike by Darwin City Council on discarding rubbish at the city’s waste management facility.

Northern Skip Bins manager Troy Bartle said he hadn’t received any notice of the council’s decision to raise the minimum fee for commercial vehicles from $28 to $103 in the new financial year.

“It made me feel really small,” he said.

“We spend about $20,000 a month with them, and the fact that wasn’t enough to even them to notify me of these dramatic changes is really poor.”

Mr Bartle said the $75 increase meant his business was now discarding rubbish from customers’ skip bins at a loss.

He said the surprise price hike would have a disastrous impact on small businesses and consumers alike.

MORE NEWS

Marie-Clare Boothby calls on Chief Minister to identify minister who brought Turf Club proposal to Cabinet

ICAC Commissioner Ken Fleming subjected an NT News journalist to a secret interrogation about the identity of a source

Nightcliff takeaway shut down for not complying with Covid rules

“This is huge,” he said.

“No one really wants to pay top dollar for a skip bin – it’s rubbish and they just want to get rid of it.”

Mr Bartle said the surprise change was unfair on businesses that rely on disposing non-recyclable rubbish.

However, Darwin City Council General Manager Engineering and City Services Ron Grinsell said the price increase was “not fully defined” in the council’s 2021/22 municipal plan.

“It is not the only charge relevant for commercial customers,” he said.

“We are currently clarifying how the fee structure works to clearly identify those commercial operators who are able to dispose of their commercial waste under a different category.”

Follow @leesaulrobinson