Townsville residents are urged to get ready ahead of the forthcoming wet weather season by cleaning up their yards and taking advantage of this year's no-charge tipping weekend, to be held in early November.
In a bid to maximise community involvement, Townsville City councillors voted today to time this year's Get Ready Tipping Weekend with the launch of region's annual disaster preparedness campaign.
The Get Ready Townsville 2025 launch event – which is a one-stop-shop for everyone from emergency services, businesses, not-for-profit and community groups sharing their knowledge on how to be disaster-ready – will be held on Sunday, 2 November at Riverway.
The no-charge tipping event will be held the following weekend.
For four days from November 7-10, residents are invited to dispose of domestic waste at any of Council's waste facilities without charge.
Townsville Acting Mayor Councillor Ann-Maree Greaney said the Get Ready Tipping Weekend was an ideal occasion for residents to clean up their homes and yards ahead of the wet weather season.
Councillor Greaney urged households to take this time to get prepared.
"As we approach the end of the year, now is the perfect time to get your properties ready for our traditional wet season and any natural disasters that may impact the community during the coming months," she said.
"Whether it be a good old-fashioned working bee, doing that tip run you've been putting off, or trimming back some trees and cleaning out your gutters, now is the time.
"In November, our community has four full days to visit our waste facilities and dispose of any waste they may have without any cost to them."
Normal opening hours for Council's five waste facilities will apply during the 2025 Get Ready Tipping Weekend, being:
- Stuart – 6:30am-5:45pm daily
- Hervey Range – 7am-4:45pm daily
- Magnetic Island – 7am-3:35pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 9am-12pm Saturday and Sunday
- Toomulla – 7:30am-4:30pm Saturday
- Bluewater – 7.30am-4:30pm Saturday and Sunday
Councillor Greaney reminded residents green waste and recyclables were able to be disposed of at Townsville's waste facilities without charge all year round, and that every household was also entitled to one free kerbside collection for bulky items each financial year.
Townsville Local Disaster Management Group (TLDMG) chairperson, Councillor Andrew Robinson, encouraged Townsvillians to make the most of the Get Ready Tipping Weekend and to turn their attention to disaster preparedness.
"Townsville locals know all too well how unpredictable the high-risk weather season can be, which is why it's so important to make sure you're prepared for anything mother nature could throw at us well ahead of time," Cr Robinson said.
"The disaster season traditionally runs from November through to April, however being disaster-ready is a year-round responsibility – the threat of bushfires is very real at present.
"Council's Get Ready Townsville 2025 event is now only a couple of weeks away, and we look forward to seeing as many members of the community as possible at Riverway.
"This will be the perfect opportunity for locals to brush up on their extreme weather preparation knowledge and for those new to North Queensland to get properly informed, as well as for everyone to have a bit of fun outdoors."
