Suggest improvements to Redland City Council on how they approach waste management here:
Redland City Council Contact Page

There’s growing frustration around the removal of bins at the Victoria Point jetty and ferry areas, and judging by the photos now circulating online, many residents feel the outcome is achieving the exact opposite of what was intended.

The signage placed at the site explains the removal this way:

“Rubbish from these bins can overflow into the ocean, putting our marine life at risk.”

 

Now, protecting Moreton Bay and its marine life is something most people around here care deeply about. This community understands better than most how precious the bay is. Dugongs, turtles, seabirds, fish habitats, mangroves… this isn’t some abstract environmental issue for island residents.

It’s literally our backyard.

Which is exactly why the current situation feels so baffling.

Because removing bins from one of the busiest transport areas servicing the islands doesn’t appear to have removed the rubbish.

It appears to have removed the containment.

Instead, rubbish is now being left on seats, on the ground, near waiting areas and around the jetty precinct itself. And unless somebody is manually collecting it quickly, loose rubbish sitting around in open public spaces seems just as capable of ending up in the bay as rubbish inside an overflowing bin.

Possibly more so.

That’s the part many locals are struggling to reconcile.

The sign also states:

“This is just one example of how we are improving waste management across the city.”

 

And look… if this is an improvement, residents are understandably wondering what the definition of “worse” looks like.

Because from a public perspective, the visual result right now is:

• more loose rubbish
• less convenience
• more frustration
• and an increasing sense that basic public services are being quietly withdrawn while being presented as progress

That’s a difficult sell.

Especially in a public transport hub where people are commuting, carrying takeaway food, wrangling children, hauling shopping bags and trying to catch ferries on time.  Factoring in the fisherfolk, and we have the Southern Moreton Bay potentially waiting to be polluted!

People generate waste in these spaces.

That’s simply reality.

Public bins exist because human beings, inconveniently, continue to require places to put things.

And while there will always be some people who litter regardless, many locals genuinely do try to help keep the island clean. You see residents picking up rubbish on morning walks all the time.

I do it myself.

Plenty of others quietly do too, without fanfare.

But ferry terminals are not leisurely beachfront walking tracks. They are high-movement transit zones. Expecting residents to somehow absorb the practical function of public bins by individually policing rubbish around transport infrastructure doesn’t feel especially realistic.

The frustrating thing is that most people raising concerns are not asking for luxury upgrades or grand spending announcements.

They’re asking for:

• bins
• functional bins
• bins serviced often enough that rubbish doesn’t become a problem in the first place

And perhaps most importantly, they’re asking not to be told that a visibly messier outcome is somehow evidence of “improved waste management.”

Because people do have eyes.

So What’s the Best Way to Push for Change?

If residents want the best chance of getting this reconsidered, the most effective approach is probably calm, consistent pressure directed formally to council rather than simply venting online.

That means:

• sending photos
• lodging service requests
• documenting ongoing issues

And politely but firmly explaining the practical impacts this is having on the community, visitors and the environment itself.

If enough residents raise the issue respectfully and persistently, it becomes much harder to dismiss.

You can contact Redland City Council here:

Redland City Council Contact Page

Because right now, whatever the intention may have been, this doesn’t feel like improved waste management.

It feels like rubbish with nowhere sensible to go.

PS/ The human behind this article is also one of the humans who actually goes out and picks up rubbish around the island and jetty areas… which, arguably, is part of the very basic mandate ratepayers already fund council to handle in the first place.

Meanwhile, my AI buddy helped turn my original version from “ARE YOU PEOPLE SERIOUS?!” into something slightly more restrained, practical and less likely to end up as a blood-pressure event.

Probably for the best. 😅