Tumbulgum skip bins

The Tweed and Rous rivers join at Tumbulgum, and the village has a long record of flooding. At the village gauge, the flood of February and March 2022 set the record. Water-damaged furniture, plasterboard, carpet and floor coverings go in a General Builders bin. A whole-house clean-out usually needs a 6 m³ or 9 m³, about 24 or 36 wheelie bins; one or two rooms may only need a 4 m³.

Keep wet paint, chemicals and gas bottles out of the load. Suspect asbestos must be tested before loading, since no bin accepts it. A clean-up that takes time can run past the standard 14 days with an extra week or unlimited hire, added at booking.

The village

Tumbulgum is a Bundjalung name, believed to mean “meeting of the waters”. Early settlers knew the place as Tweed River Junction, or The Junction, and it became Tumbulgum in the early 1880s. During that decade it was the leading town of the Tweed Valley, complete with a bank and a river port. The railway and the Murwillumbah Bridge later pulled the valley's centre to Murwillumbah. The 2021 Census recorded roughly 450 residents, and cane fields cover the low country east of the village.

Placing the bin

Houses make up 99.4 per cent of dwellings (2021 Census), so the bin nearly always lands on a driveway or in a front yard. Kept within your boundary, it needs no approval. Pick firm ground rather than soft lawn. Riverside Drive hugs the river; give the truck space to pull off and set the bin down while the road stays open.

Council land and Queensland time

Council land is a different matter. A bin on the street, footpath or verge requires Tweed Shire Council's “Approval to Place a Skip Bin in a Public Place”, which comes with a fee and which you arrange. Our bookings are kept in Queensland time, an hour behind the NSW clock while daylight saving is in force.