General News
5 September, 2026
Bins back after U-turn
RECYCLING bins removed by Cairns Regional Council at Machans Beach two weeks ago have returned.
Council workers removed the recycling wheelie bins from the suburb’s beachfront esplanade.
But persistent residents have had a small and possibly short-lived victory this week with the bins now back.
The saga began two weeks ago when concerned residents instantly shared images and footage on social media of two people using an angle grinder to cut the security cables which attached the recycling bins to the general rubbish bins along the public walkway.
Machans Beach Community Association member and long-term resident Deryck Thompson said the bins were the property of the association which had bought them to encourage community recycling.
The first bin was introduced in February 2025 by local resident Leon Bradley at the popular public art installation area ‘The Poles’.
He collects the recyclables and takes them to Containers for Cash, donating the money to the association for the community hall upkeep.
“The fact that we counted and recorded 6046 containers at the one location in the last 19 months indicates that the general public is interested in recycling,” Mr Thompson said.
Other bins were added along the foreshore, and while their contents had not been counted, “the total may have been closer to 10,000 containers” collected.
A statement from council said the bins were removed because of “safety concerns, some of the structures were not in keeping with the general amenity of the area and an unfortunate escalation of littering and illegal dumping, theft and vandalism had resulted”.
A disgruntled Mr Bradley responded to the bin removal by taking a spare bin back to The Poles.
“The council’s response is a pile of inaccurate, disingenuous claptrap designed to excuse poor executive management decisions,” he said.
And in a surprise twist this week, council workers returned all of the association’s bins and Mr Bradley has refixed them to a number of the five other general rubbish bins on O’Shea Esplanade.
Mr Thompson said he had had talks with division 8 Cr Rhonda Coghlan, who had indicated she would raise the matter of the bins officially through a council meeting.
A council manager had also contacted Mr Thompson and acknowledged the hasty removal had been unfortunate.
“To be fair, council is in a difficult position,” Mr Thompson said.
“Machans Beach does a great job in recycling and in keeping the Esplanade litter-free. I have never seen rubbish on the ground and visitors to the beach have somewhere to place their drink containers,” he said.
