What to do with your flood waste + Council services update

Image: Asquith Street, Austinmer.

We continue to respond to the recent flooding event in the City of Wollongong. Our focus remains on immediate recovery and cleanup, with Council crews out assessing damage and continuing the hard work of cleaning up the widespread impact of Saturday morning’s severe weather event.

The best way to stay up-to-date with the latest Council services information community information is by following the City of Wollongong Facebook page.

See below for waste options for flood-impacted residents, beaches, pools, sportsgrounds and local road updates.

Free on-call household cleanups for impacted residents

Our priority is supporting flood-impacted residents to dispose of soiled and damaged waste as soon as we can.

We’re offering impacted residents an additional, free on-call household cleanup. This on-call service prioritises those directly affected by the floods and saves residents a trip to Whytes Gully.

Book your free on-call service by calling Remondis on 1300 362 360. There may be a significant wait time for calls, and we ask for your patience as we respond as quickly as we can.

To get ready for your on-call cleanup

Please separate your waste as best as you can on the verge of your property (where it’s safe to do so). Please remove food waste from fridges and keep separate, you can use your green-lidded FOGO bin for this.

It might take multiple visits for us to pick up your separated waste. This is so we can make sure we’re disposing of the waste responsibly.

Waste accepted

Our priority is helping residents with removing their wet, damaged, soiled items such as clothing, carpets, rugs etc.

This special household clean-up for flood-affected residents will accept building items (e.g., bricks, tiles, fences and timber), perishables (food waste, wet damaged clothing, rugs and carpets), damaged furniture, and household items.

Waste Depot & Community Recycling Centre – free waste drop-off for flood impacted residents

Council’s waste fees for residents impacted by flooding have been temporarily waived. While we encourage people to book a free, on-call household cleanup, you can also drop waste off at our Waste Depot, also known as Whytes Gully. We have also extended our operating hours this week until 6pm.

You may need to demonstrate proof that you have been impacted by flooding.

We accept items such as: building materials (excluding asbestos), perishables (such as food waste, wet damaged clothing, rugs, and carpets), damaged furniture, garden waste/debris, recycling and household items.

Where possible, please sort your items and drop off recyclables at the Community Recycling Centre.

We also thank residents for their understanding as we manage the increased risk of localised odour issues that's a result of the significant amount of flood-related waste coming onto site.

We are investigating other opportunities for garden debris drop-offs to support residents with green waste and garden debris from the floods and will share more information with our community as soon as we can.

Be mindful of asbestos!

If your house was built before 1990, there’s a good chance it contains asbestos. While asbestos materials are less of a risk when wet, they’re still a risk. If you find asbestos debris on your property, and a licenced removalist is not an option, check the NSW EPA website for more details on how to safely dispose of the material.

Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation, or ISJO, has an asbestos collection program to make it easier for residents to dispose of the material. ISJO is a joint organisation that provides an opportunity for collaboration and advocacy from Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven councils. The Free Asbestos Collection program has grant funding from the EPA and was developed by councils to offer a way to dispose of small quantities of asbestos.

See: Illawarra Shoalhaven Joint Organisation (or ISJO) website for more information.

Support and assistance

The Federal and NSW Government have responded to the situation and are providing the City of Wollongong with recovery support for our flood affected community. This includes support such as:

• Assistance for eligible residents to help meet immediate needs like emergency accommodation or small cash payments to purchase essential items generally provided from evacuation or recovery centres.
• Grants for eligible residents to replace lost essential household items to maintain basic standard of living.
• Grants for eligible residents to undertake essential structural repairs to restore their homes to a safe and habitable conditions.
• Waiving the waste levy fee for residents disposing of flood damaged waste in the Illawarra South Coast region, to help communities clean up.

For information relating to financial assistance, replacing lost documents, location of your nearest recovery centre and more, please contact Service NSW on 13 77 88, www.nsw.gov.au or visit your nearest Service NSW location.

Beaches – remain closed

All 17 patrolled beaches remain closed due to water quality and debris. Right now, our teams are working across the city to undertake essential clean up works. We will begin clean up on our beaches as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we're encouraging people to stay off the beaches, or use a high degree of caution, due to potential safety impacts of rubbish and debris. We will reopen the beaches when it is safe to do so.

Sportsgrounds – closed

Sports fields remain closed today and tomorrow (Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 April). We're also asking people to avoid using parks and open spaces for team training while the sports fields are closed, and we are assessing parks for damage. Team training on sodden ground will increase the risk of damage to grassed areas. Keep an eye on our Sportsgrounds webpage for the latest updates.

Playgrounds, parks & open spaces

Many of our playgrounds and parks are extremely boggy and need time to dry out. We ask that residents do not train on or ride a bike on wet ground.

In particular, Windang Foreshore and Reserve and William Beach Reserve, Brownsville are currently closed.

Pools

Some of our pools have been closed due to water contamination caused by wet weather. Check our pools webpage for updates on closures.

Road closures [last updated 12noon, Monday 8 April]

In addition to the road closures on Live Traffic NSW, local road closures are in place at:

• Darkes Rd, Kembla Grange
• Lachlan Ave, Thirroul
• Kelton Lane, Thirroul
• Vera St, Helensburgh
• Otford Weir
• Asquith St, Austinmer.

The pedestrian bridge on O’Briens Road, Figtree near the High School is also closed.