COUNCIL has defended spending $4.5 million in State Government grants allocated to upgrade the existing Rosewood transfer station on other projects in the city.

Council re-allocated $1 million to the Riverview Resource Recovery Centre upgrades, and the remaining $3.5 million to playground and amenity upgrades at Cameron Park at Booval and Richardson Park at Goodna. The reallocations were made because of the short completion timelines associated with the grant funding, says Ipswich City CEO.

Upgrades to the waste services in Rosewood have been at a standstill since the council decided to look for a new site for the transfer station and met community opposition when a site was identified at Calvert.

Former Member for Ipswich West Jim Madden, now a candidate for the council Division 4, said the council grant application submitted to the State Government detailed plans to upgrade the existing Rosewood transfer station.

He said $4.5 million funding was allocated for the Rosewood area and questioned why the council had abandoned the plan and how the funds had been spent outside the Rosewood area.

Ipswich City Council chief executive officer Sonia Cooper said the council had to re-allocate the funds as strict completion times had to be adhered to under the funding agreement.

Ms Cooper confirmed that under the 2021-24 South East Qld Community Stimulus Program (SEQCSP), council received a grant of $6.67 million, consisting of $4.5 million allocated to upgrades to the Rosewood Recycling and Refuse Centre.

“As council was investigating a future new location for a Western Resource Recovery Centre, and the grant program had strict and short completion timelines, in agreement with the State Government, council re-allocated the Rosewood funds to other council programs that could be delivered within deadline,” Ms Cooper said.

“These three projects [Riverview, Cameron Park and Richardson Park] are scheduled for completion midway through this calendar year.”

Ms Cooper said the council abandoned plans to upgrade the existing Rosewood tip because there were issues with rehabilitating underlying landfill on the site.

“With further consideration it was identified that the existing Rosewood location has many constraints and challenges, including the rehabilitation of underlying landfill that precluded major site upgrades.

“In 2023, council consulted with residents on the proposed location for a new Western Resource Recovery Centre.

“Council subsequently undertook an assessment of more than 750 potential locations, which included the 13 community submissions, 23 council owned sites and 734 privately owned properties.

“The initial Calvert site at 545-583 Rosewood Laidley Road was excluded from any future consideration, following a published council resolution in October 2022.”

A preliminary list of potential future sites was presented to the Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee in November, with a view to undertaking a detailed assessment of these sites to create a shortlist that can be considered by Council and the local community.

“While council continues work on identifying and securing the future location of the Western Resource Recovery Centre, interim upgrade work to improve safety at the existing Rosewood Recycling and Refuse Centre was recently completed, with the site returning to full operation at the start of February 2024,” Ms Cooper said.

The Riverview Recycling and Refuse Centre is currently undergoing upgrades to the green waste area. Normal operating hours apply with some temporary changes to drop-off locations of green waste, untreated timber, concrete and dirt.