By Jackson Russell
MITCHELL Shire Council officers will look into the potential for a hard rubbish collection service to help reduce the amount of illegally dumped rubbish across the shire, following a request from councillor Annie Goble.
Council spends tens of thousands of dollars every year cleaning up illegally-dumped rubbish and, while there is not a clear relationship between dumping and council services, the cost of disposing of rubbish legally is often thought to be a significant factor.
Council officers said while the days of an annual hard rubbish day had passed due to unsightly street presentation and increased costs, the opportunity existed to explore a better and more cost-effective ways to manage hard waste collection and disposal while minimising the impacts of illegally dumped rubbish.
Cr Goble said a lot of community members had asked for a hard rubbish collection service.
“I think we need all the information to come to us about costs and then also the costs related to collecting dumped hard waste around the shire,” she said.
“We need to find out from other councils who have brought in regular hard rubbish collections whether it has impacted positively on the amount of rubbish that’s been dumped around their shire.
“It’s basically to ask the council staff to get information so we can make an informed decision as to whether we bring in a hard rubbish collection or not and what type of hard waste collection we bring in because there are alternatives.”
New central ward councillor Louise Bannister said the community had wanted the service for a long time now.
“It’s often talked about and I think getting that information about the costs of picking up illegally dumped rubbish is a really great idea because you don’t really put those two together,” she said.
“Getting that information and also having an understanding of how other councils manage their hard rubbish collection and what options there are will be really important in making an informed decision in the future.”
Cr Rob Eldridge said it was not yet known whether a hard rubbish service would solve council’s dumping problem.
“There are many causes of rubbish dumping so I’d like to think the staff would look into that and come back with an open finding on that,” he said.
“One is hard rubbish, but another is empowering renters to be able to put their rubbish in tips. A lot of renters don’t get tip tickets from their landlords.
“Dumped rubbish is a really bad look for the community.
“We work very hard in about making people have pride in the community and one of the worst things that can happen is you drive into town and there’s rubbish everywhere.”
