For many years people have heeded the call and ‘done the right thing’ by using the bins. Now its Council’s turn.
“It’s important for council to continue its good work and lift its game to match the demands of a city with more and more people.” said WECA President Darren Godwell.
“This one isn’t a hard ask -Council just needs to double the number of rubbish pick-ups.”
“The physical constraints of the footpaths and the demand from many thousands of peoples rule-out the appropriateness of larger bins” added Godwell
Godwell points out that “standard, narrow footpaths can’t handle more people, more street signage, more outdoor dining, more clothes racks, more furniture and larger bins.
Council may find itself exposed to an increased public liability and potential payouts for failing to provide the public with safe and adequate footpaths in one of its highest traffic streets.”
As part of WECA’s Safer Streets initiative, the Community Association is asking City Council to increase the frequency of its rubbish collections from the public bins provided along Boundary and Melbourne Streets in West End and South Brisbane.
“It’s a public health and safety issue. When council approves all the extra outside dining plus approves all the extra bars and licensed premises over the last ten years it happily took the extra revenues from permits and applications. Council has pocketed the extra money, now its time to use those funds to sustain services.”
Since 1995 local business and community interests of West End have initiated urban improvements. A year later the result was Brisbane’s first ever Suburban Centre Improvement Program (SCIP) where fit-to-purpose street furniture and infrastructure refreshed one of Brisbane’s last remaining retail high streets. WECA members and founders were active in that local initiative.