Residents along Mt Lindesay Rd will now be able to opt in or out of a weekly 120 litre bin rubbish collection service, following a resolution on the year-old issue at council’s meeting on Wednesday, June 28.
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Council’s chief operating officer Andrew Kompler recommended offering the “user-pays optional” service at an annual cost of $219, although he preferred a fortnightly service.
He told the meeting he came to his conclusion after going back and looking at feedback on the recent survey on the divisive issue, and said it was clear there were mixed feelings. Some users had concerns about the cost, while others appreciated the convenience of a roadside rubbish collection service in the face of an ageing population.
“We could ‘chuck the baby out with the bathwater’ or compromise,” he said.
He calculated the marginal cost of a user-pays service, taking into account the added operator and truck cost of each stop, and the volume of rubbish being collected.
Councillor Bronwyn Petrie took issue with the recommendation of a fortnightly service given the truck passes weekly, the trial was weekly and residents elsewhere in the shire receive a weekly service.
“Mr Lindesay people shouldn’t be treated differently,” she said.
She said ratepayers are pleading for a weekly service, for hygiene and volume reasons, and received her fellow-councillors support.
Mr Kompler said residents would be surveyed as to who wants to opt in, and he’s looking at a simple system of perhaps a stamp or sticker on the bin to identify legitimate subscribers, and to monitor that. (Council has a store of returned bins from protesters.)
He said other councils have electronic tag systems on their trucks but he preferred not to go down that road given the cost involved, preferring to trust that residents would to the right thing. The driver would also become familiar with the required stops.
Cr Gary Verri requested that the (non-mandatory) service be extended farther north, and for those in side-roads to have the option of bringing their bins to Mt Lindesay Rd for collection. He said some would rather travel three or four kilometres to Mt Lindesay Rd than much farther to the transfer station.
Mr Kompler will look at the additional costs involved in extending the service, but supported the idea of bringing bins to a roadside collection point.
“It adds to the uptake of the service,” he said.
The non-mandatory model will be reassessed in two years’ time, with Cr Greg Sauer getting support to amend the motion to ensure all residents receive a ‘properly-worded’ survey to canvas their opinion towards the end of that period, while making it clear the model wouldn’t be setting any precedents for other mandatory council services.
“It’s for this particular service foisted on people, where council didn’t do the right thing,” he said.
Jeff McKillop, part of the protest group, was naturally pleased with the outcome and thanked councillors for listening. Here’s his response...