Public land bin ban

THE City of Joondalup has banned charity clothing bins on public land.

The council voted 8-3 at its meeting last week to no longer issue bin permits.

Charities that do not have a current permit will be asked to remove their bins. Those that do have a permit will be asked to remove them once their permit expires.

There are currently 76 charity bins at 19 City-owned locations.

They are for Good Samaritan Industries, ParaQuad Industries/Spine and Limb Foundation and Anglicare WA.

A council report said 18 complaints about the bins at Windermere Park in Joondalup and Littorina Park in Heathridge had been received since they were installed. Concerns included “excessive litter and dumping of items other than clothing, including electrical equipment and furniture”.

“The other 17 locations have been well serviced and are not subject to the same level of misuse, with a total of four reports of litter,” it said.

“There have been instances of graffiti reported on bins and it has been removed quickly and bins maintained in good condition.”

It said there was a “significant number” of bins on private land, including shopping centre carparks.

Connolly Residents Association chairwoman Penny Gilpin supported the ban at the June 9 council briefing. She said there were five bins near the Connolly Community Centre and another three in the shopping centre carpark and “eight in one small local area is absolute overkill”.

She said they were often “surrounded with dumped general household items not suitable for donations”.

“The City of Joondalup spends hundreds of thousands of dollars each year improving our parks and beautifying our streetscapes,” she said.

“To then actively approve the installation of these visually polluting bins in such areas as parks and recreational facilities makes no sense whatsoever.”

At the council meeting, Mayor Troy Pickard said the ban on public land was “on the back of growing concern among the community about the impact the proliferation of charity bins are having to the amenity of our suburbs”.

“Last year, the City removed only 11 incidents of graffiti on charity bins; however, we removed 365 incidents of graffiti located near charity bins,” he said.

Cr Kerry Hollywood said it was not about banning bins totally but moving them to more suitable areas.

Cr Philippa Taylor said people could still dispose of their unwanted clothes and household goods at the shopping centre bins.

“The public will just have to be re-educated as to exactly where to take their unused goods,” she said.

Crs John Chester, Mike Norman and Teresa Ritchie voted against the ban.

Cr Chester said it was a “gross overreaction” given only two sites had been highlighted as problematic.

“To ban all bins in public spaces would be another unfortunate and totally unacceptable example of inconveniencing and penalising the majority for the misbehaviour of a few,” he said.

“Let’s deal with the problem locations and leave the rest alone.”

He said after 12 months, the City could review the other sites.

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