An average of 100 truckloads of flood debris is still being collected every day across the Tweed Shire in northern New South Wales.
Following the record floods in the region earlier this year, the clean-up operation has so far collected more than 63,000 tonnes of waste including household goods, mud, debris and asbestos.
This includes 18,000 tonnes of waste collected from homes and businesses across the region in a targeted 9-week operation completed in April.
Chris Cherry, Mayor of Tweed, said that while the trauma of the floods still lingered for many residents, it was good to see progress in the recovery.
“The completion of the flood waste clean-up from kerbsides across Tweed is a relief but there’s still a long way to go for many residents suffering from the trauma of the disaster,” he said.
While the kerbside clean-up has finished, many months of roadside operations lie ahead for the region’s battered road network.
Approximately 45,000 tonnes of excavated material such as soil, mud, rocks and fallen trees from landslips, blocked culverts and roadside drains has been collected so far, with the operation expected to continue for months.
The Tweed Shire Council’s aim is for most of this excavated material to be reused on projects around the region.
Cherry extended his thanks to the council staff, Australian Defense Force personnel, Rural Fire Service and waste contractors who have enabled the region’s rapid clean-up.
“The huge amount of extra work was well handled by Council’s resource recovery, construction and contracts teams who took on this mammoth task on top of their everyday jobs,” he said. “The NSW Public Works Advisory team was also pivotal in coordinating an army of contractors assisting Council with the clean-up.”
The volume of waste collected in the region this year is significantly higher than that following the 2017 flood, when approximately 45,000 tonnes of household waste and excavated material was collected in total.
For more information, visit: www.tweed.nsw.gov.au
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