Before the bin arrives

Your own land comes first

Inner West Council in Sydney and the City of Melbourne both put your own land first, and both set conditions for a skip that has to go on the street instead; their pages are listed at the foot of this one. The rest of this band looks at two places with rules of their own: Canberra’s nature strips and the City of Adelaide’s streets.

Canberra: the nature strip is public land

In Canberra, the nature strip is the land between a home’s boundary and the road. It is publicly owned and not part of the property beside it, even though the resident or lessee next door is the one who maintains it. It often holds infrastructure for essential services, such as telecommunications, energy, water and wastewater.

The ACT Government says you need approval to store objects such as a skip or bin on a nature strip. Its public land rules require a permit to place an object on public land, and the activities they list include “commercial waste bins/skips”.

1. The form. There is an application form for placing an object such as a skip bin on a nature strip, which is emailed to the Public land use team.
2. The wait. An application is assessed within 28 days of all its documents arriving, unless more consultation or approval is needed. An approved permit comes by email, with its terms and conditions. If anything is missing, an email asking for it should come within 2 business days.
3. The fee. The ACT is split into three commercial payment zones for public land use, and the fee depends on the zone and on which government infrastructure the activity affects.

Some uses of a verge are refused whatever the fees. One the ACT names is a shipping container on a road or verge for household use, such as storing furniture or moving house.

The City of Adelaide: a City Works Permit

The City of Adelaide says a City Works Permit must be applied for before any works on its roads, footpaths and parklands. Its table of city works fees names “Skip bin” among the activities it covers.

The council asks for applications at least five business days before the start date, or four to six weeks ahead when the work needs public consultation. An application has to include a certificate of currency for public liability insurance of at least $20 million that notes the City of Adelaide as an interested party.

These are the City of Adelaide’s rules. Elsewhere in South Australia, the local council’s own page is the one to read.

Four questions for the hire business

Each question comes from a rule on an official page, and each says whose rule it is.

1. Who applies for the permit? Ask whether the hire business applies for any council or public land approval, or leaves that to you; the Canberra and Adelaide rules above show what each place asks for.
2. How much notice does it need? Ask when the permit has to be lodged so the bin can arrive on the day you want it; the notice periods above are the councils’ own.
3. What is the total price? The ACCC says businesses must give clear and accurate prices before you book, order or buy. Band 3 covers prices, quotes and hire terms.
4. What must stay out of it? For a skip on its public land, Inner West Council’s conditions say no food waste and no dangerous or hazardous waste goes in any bin. Band 4 covers the drop-off programs for what stays out.

What a skip on a Melbourne street carries

A skip in a public place in the City of Melbourne must show the company’s current name and contact phone number on its outside. It must also be marked in the top corners of every outside face with yellow retroreflective tape, 50 mm wide, in an upside-down L shape 200 mm across and 350 mm down. These are the City of Melbourne’s conditions; other councils set their own.

Once the bin is in place, the loading begins. Band 5 covers loading a bin safely, from what safety regulators say about lifting to the shape of the load.