City finalises ban on charity clothing bins

THE City of Joondalup has made its final council decision to ban charity clothing bins on council land.

At last week’s meeting, councillors gave public notice that “a person must not place or maintain a collection bin on local government property”.

Mayor Troy Pickard said it was the “final step in what has been a very elongated process”.

The process started in June when councillors voted to no longer issue permits for the installation of charity clothing bins on City-owned and managed land because of ongoing issues at the bin sites, including rubbish dumping, vandalism and graffiti.

However, this would not stop a charity from being able to apply for a permit and then object to any refusal by taking the matter to the State Administrative Tribunal, so the City needed to prohibit the activity, which was initiated in September.

In December, councillors then voted to give notice of the City’s intention to prohibit the activity under its local law, which was advertised from December 21 to January 11.

No submissions were received.

Mr Pickard said the successful charity clothing collection day on February 13 showed the strategies the City was implementing were working.

“What gives me comfort with this decision is, it enjoys very strong community support,” he said.

“There are a couple of charities that aren’t impressed… but the overwhelming majority of our local community support this initiative.”

Cr John Chester said he had to vote against the decision on principle.

“I think it was an over-reaction to a small problem,” he said.