Despite the council doubling the number of street bins and emptying them daily, residents and visitors were using shopping trolleys to contain litter around Batemans Bay over the new year break. Photo: ESC.
Eurobodalla Shire Council’s new general manager Warwick Winn has pledged to “do better” after the annual tourist influx left bins overflowing and public toilets locked in the central business district.
Mr Winn said the council had provided double the usual number of street bins, with a daily emptying service, but the CBD and foreshore area was still left with overflowing bins that forced some to use shopping trolleys for their rubbish.
“We thought we had it covered with 10 extra bins on the Bay foreshore alone,” Mr Winn said.
“We’ve now placed 12 additional bins around the waterfront, but we as a council will set about finding a better long-term solution.
“I don’t want to see this happen again. Businesses are doing their best to attract visitors, and the community expect their towns to present well.”
Several public toilets were also locked around the Bay after the council’s cleaning contractor “let them down”, Mr Winn said.
Eurobodalla Council staff reopened the toilets after a flurry of complaints.
“This is unacceptable, and we will do better next time,” Mr Winn said. “We need to get these simple things right, and I’m determined we will.”
The Eurobodalla has experienced a strong Christmas/new year holiday period after a litany of crises that took place over the past few years. It’s estimated the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires alone caused $150.3 million of damage to the local economy, and tourism is seen as vital to the region’s economic recovery.
In 2021, it brought in more than $154.8m and 1.2m visitors.
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