A community rally will be held at Banyo tomorrow in a final push for Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner to include the resumption of kerbside collection in the upcoming council budget.

The Brisbane City Council suspended kerbside collection until it was viable to start it up again.

Council opposition leader Jared Cassidy is leading the charge and said he didn’t buy the reason it was cut was to “save money during COVID”.

“What we’ve seen over the last year or so has been about 5000 reports of illegal dumping which is up by about 30 per cent, at the time it was cut we said this would lead to illegal dumping and the streets of Brisbane would become dumping grounds and that’s exactly what has happened,” he told Scott Emerson.

He said it’s a basic council service.

“It’s all about values, a council budget … and this is basic service the people of Brisbane have demanded return since it was cut.”

In a statement, council’s City Standards, Community Health and Safety Chair Kim Marx said the rally was a “stunt”.

“This rally is just another politically-motivated stunt from the hypercritical Labor Opposition.

“Kerbside collection was never cancelled.

“We have always said it will be back as soon as it’s financially viable. The millions of dollars in savings from the temporary suspension has been redirected to the Economic Recovery Taskforce which has given grants to more than 350 community groups and hundreds of small businesses.

“Cr Cassidy is quick to point the finger and pull stunts, but has been caught red handed failing to report illegal dumping in his own ward on several occasions.”

Press PLAY below to hear Cr Cassidy on 4BC Drive

Image: iStock