Road to recovery free from mounds of flood waste
17 March 2022
The massive disaster effort across Ipswich’s flooded suburbs is transitioning to a city rebuilding phase as the piles of flood waste are cleared away.
Local Disaster Management Group Chair Mayor Teresa Harding said council moved quickly to focus on providing additional waste services in flood-impacted areas and that hard work is paying off.
“Council, emergency services, Australian Defence Force (ADF), volunteers and key stakeholders have been working around the clock since the flood waters began inundating homes,” Mayor Harding said.
“Council has assisted the community remove almost 10,000 tonnes of waste with 4,200 tonnes of that being flood waste material, from the city.
“There have been more than 8,500 visitors to Riverview and Rosewood Recycling and Refuse Centres since the flood began, and council’s kerbside collection crews have collected at least 1,000 tonnes of waste directly from affected properties.
“More than 290 skip bins, which would have cost $150,000 in hire fees, were delivered free of charge to assist Ipswich businesses clean up after this disaster.
“The Ipswich community continues to be assisted by the ADF with more than 180 personnel assisting in cleaning up with 128 ADF truckloads of waste collected so far.”
Riverview and Rosewood Recycling and Refuse Centres will continue to offer free entry for all Ipswich residents until Sunday 20 March 2022 and will open early at 7am on Saturday and Sunday.
Large vehicles greater than 10 tonnes GVM are unable to drop waste at the refuse centres.
The free skip bin flood assistance program to support Ipswich businesses clean-up flood waste will continue to operate until Friday, 18 March.
“Council will also be winding down kerbside collection after this week in flood-impacted areas so crews can be diverted back to the free scheduled large kerbside collection service across Ipswich,” Mayor Harding said.
“If you still have flood waste on your kerbside after this weekend, please call council on 3810 6666.”
Personal hardship financial assistance is also available until 26 March for those affected by the recent rainfall and flooding in Ipswich with a range of commonwealth and state jointly funded assistance grants.
For more information on the various grants available, go to the Ipswich Flood Recovery information webpage, which can be accessed at Ipswich.qld.gov.au/floodrecovery