Proposed changes to operating hours, manned sites and improved recycling facilities are part of changes being made to waste facilities across Banana Shire.

The changes, which come into effect after 1 July 2019, are needed  to ensure Council meets all State Government guidelines and standards.

Changes will take effect at the Taroom, Theodore, Cracow, Baralaba, Wowan, Jambin, Banana and Thangool waste facilities.

The amendments to the operations at Council’s smaller waste facilities were determined following a review of CCTV footage at the sites to determine peak times and days, the proximity to alternative waste services and availability of wheelie bin services, the staggering of hours to provide the opportunity for a number of facilities to be supervised by a single operator and budget considerations. A survey of Taroom residents and a traffic count at the Taroom landfill was also carried out as part of the review.

All of these sites are required to be fenced and fully manned when open to the public.

The proposed new hours are:

• Taroom: Monday 8am-midday, Wednesday 1pm-5pm, Friday 8am-midday, Saturday 1pm-5pm, Sunday 8am-midday
• Theodore: Monday 8am-midday, Thursday 1pm-5pm, Saturday 8am-midday, Sunday 1pm-5pm
• Cracow: Thursday 8am-11am, Sunday 8am-11am
• Wowan: Monday 1.30pm-5pm, Wednesday 8am-midday, Saturday 1.30pm-5pm
• Baralaba: Monday 8am-midday, Wednesday 1.30pm-5pm, Saturday 8am-midday.
• Jambin: Tuesday 8am-midday, Thursday 1.30pm-5pm, Sunday 8am-midday
• Banana: Monday 1.30pm-5pm, Wednesday 8am-midday, Saturday 1.30pm-5pm
• Thangool: Tuesday 1.30pm-5pm, Thursday 8am-midday, Sunday 1.30-5pm.

Council is improving its recycling capacity by establishing cardboard and paper recycling points at all towns within the Shire, with the exception of Cracow. (A full list of locations is provided below).

Council will also provide additional services at some of its transfer stations including mobile phone, ink cartridge and battery collection points. Investigations into the opportunity of setting up a covered secondhand tip shop at Moura is also underway.

Over the next month Council will conduct an online survey, information sessions across the Shire, phone or face-to-face interviews and set-up static displays at key locations to further advise the community of the changes and to gather feedback from the community on preferred opening hours and day and other aspects of waste management within the Shire.

List of cardboard recycling collection points:

• Banana - Banana Service Station, Banana Hotel, Banana School.
• Baralaba - Baralaba School, Baralaba Food Store, Baralaba Acres Rural.
• Biloela - C & K Coo-inda Kindy Biloela, C & K Child Care Centre Biloela, Biloela Primary School, Biloela Hospital, Council Administration Centre, Council Stores, Council Workshop.
• Goovigen - Goovigen School, Wowan School.
• Jambin - Jambin School.
• Moura - Moura Coal n Cattle, Moura pool, Moura RSL, Moura Mens shed, Moura Bowls Club.
• Taroom - Taroom Hotel Motel, Taroom IGA, Taroom Landmark, Taroom Bowls Club, Taroom Foodworks, Taroom Mitre 10.
• Thangool - Thangool School, Thangool Servo.
• Theodore - Theodore Newsagency, Theodore Xtreme 1 Service Station.
• Wowan - Wowan Service Station, Wowan Hotel.