How city pride helps make our streets beautiful

As part of her job, Barbara meets many people: those who are proud of the City of Logan, and those who are not. And it’s the people who are proud of Logan that she says drives her in her work. 

As an illegal dumping officer with Logan City Council, she investigates the dumping of rubbish in our streets, bushland and parks, and works hard to make those spaces clean and visually appealing. 

The job is one that’s filled with challenges, rewards – and plenty of chances to make a difference.  So what exactly does the job involve? What’s a day like in the life of an illegal dumping officer?  

‘The typical week involves a range of requests, from household rubbish left at a home when a tenant has moved out, and commercial businesses dumping green or building waste, to residents reporting dumping on streets or other areas,’ Barbara, herself a Logan resident, says. 

‘I would say about half of our work is proactive, and half is responding to community reports. That has grown because people are more thorough in their reporting now – taking photos, getting rego numbers of cars, things like that.  

 ‘People who provide that information to us are highly motivated. Often they have lived here in Logan for a long time, and they want us to keep our city clean and don’t want it to go downhill. They want to lift the negative connotation that our community can sometimes experience. They are proud of where they live, as I am.’ 

Barbara and her team talk regularly to people who have left furniture or rubbish at the front of their house – informing them of the laws banning this and giving them a chance to remove it before enforcing this with a fine. 

‘People mostly will remove it straightaway and say they didn’t realise it wasn’t allowed,’ she says. 

‘We had a blitz over one month recently, and of 19 requests to remove the rubbish, 18 were responded to immediately. This is really encouraging.’ 

Barbara’s team also conducts more complex investigations, assisted by cameras, which look at some of the bigger items being moved to a second location and dumped. It’s in these investigations they track who is responsible for dumping some unusual, large and surprising items – from bags of dirty nappies to syringes, jetskis and tractor tyres.  

Barbara says the team has a good success rate in finding the people responsible. 

‘I enjoy getting outcomes. It’s a challenging job, but I am a resident of Logan and I know that unless we find the person responsible, the ratepayer is the person who will end up paying to move someone else’s rubbish,’ she says. 

‘Through my interactions with so many people across the city, there are so many residents who are rightly proud of Logan and want to improve how our city is seen.  I consider myself to work for those people.’ 

Illegal dumping is a widespread issue, one which Barbara says was identified as a major concern by all councils in South East Queensland at a recent meeting. 

‘It has become more pronounced recently because of the financial situation at the moment,’ she says. 

‘However, green waste is free to drop off at the tip, and you can list old furniture online as a giveaway; you can take old electrical items to places like Substation 33; and the Logan Recycling Market welcomes items in good condition. There are ways around this for people. 

‘I really wish people knew that your trash can be treasure for someone who is in need, or someone who has a hobby who can upcycle.  We can recycle or reuse a lot of what we throw out.’ 

Find out more here:  Illegal dumping – Logan City Council