Rubbish forces bin removal

People’s unwanted items are still being left on the curbside of Maynard St.

Scottie Simmonds

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• Endeavour forced to move bins

THE continued illegal dumping of rubbish at a group of charity bins on Maynard St has forced two organisations to remove the donation points.

But rubbish is still being dumped where the bins once were, despite them being taken away on Friday.

Lifeline and the Endeavour Foundation, who both owned the donation bins, have had continual problems at the racecourse site over the past year with people dumping rubbish and donations outside the bins.

Volunteers were spending at least an hour a day cleaning up the mess.

A large number of the "donations" that had been left outside the bins were unusable due to the weather damage and damage from being out in the elements.

Lifeline business manager Andrew Armstrong said the loss of the bins would hurt the charities because they had always been quite productive.

"But on the Monday prior to them going, we carted about seven tonnes of rubbish away from the bin," he said.

"People had been using it as an opportunistic way to get rid of their rubbish."

Mr Armstrong said the charity was looking to move the bins in the new year, provided they could find a suitable location.

In the meantime, he pleaded with those who were taking donations to other bins either to place them inside, take it to the Lifeline shop or call the charity to organise a pick-up.

Endeavour Foundation Bundaberg retail store manager Shirley Samuels said the illegal dumping at the bins had been a constant source of frustration for the charity.

"We knew we would have to move the bins; it was just a matter of time," she said.

Ms Samuels said, like Lifeline, the charity would be looking to move the bins as soon a suitable new site was found.

Bundaberg regional councillor Judy Peters said the council had been working with the charities for some time trying to resolve the illegal dumping problem.

"It's really quite distressing when you see the donations get ruined by the rain or bad weather," she said.

Cr Peters said council workers had been helping to clean the old donation site since the charity bins had moved.