A PLAN to trial management of waste volumes for households with children in nappies has been deferred again by the Mitchell Shire Council at its August meeting last week, with the promise to scrap fortnightly red bin collections under a Liberal-National government forcing Council’s hand.
Last Monday night, Councillor Andrea Pace said she was set to bring forward an amendment to trial an arrangement in Seymour, but the Liberals’ announcement left her with no choice but to defer it another six months.
“My intention had been to bring forward an amendment proposing a trial in the Seymour area, specifically for households with children under five, so that we could gather real local data to inform decisions going forward, rather than relying on modelling built around existing commitments,” she said.
“Given the upcoming State Election and the promise made around scrapping fortnightly red bin collections, I’ve made the decision to shelf that amendment for now.”
Cr Pace said there have been options tabled, but there was a need to trial a real-world potential solution.
“Over the past two years, I’ve requested and brought a number of reports to this council on behalf of residents, looking at how our waste collection system is working for the community it’s meant to serve,” she said.
“What’s become clear through that process is that the financial modelling in these reports have either been skipped altogether because of the contracts we’re already locked into or presented on a worst-case basis.
“That’s understandable, given that where we are contractually. But it means we’ve never actually had a clear, factual picture of what a better option might cost or save, if we were willing to test it.
“We have not finished trying to find a way to ease the stress on the families.”
However, Cr Pace also noted that residents had reacted positively to changes, albeit under duress.
“I do want to acknowledge what is working – our resource recovery centres are limited in number; they are not infinite. Once they’re full, that’s it. But the four-bin system has driven a real shift in behaviour, with 57 per cent of material now being diverted from landfill through those centres,” she said.
“That’s to be commended, and residents should be proud of it, even though we’ve been forced to do it.
“We currently provide five tickets with rates, a free upgrade from 120-litre to 240-litre bins for households with six or more people, and a medical exemption for residents managing medical waste or reliant on incontinence products. That medical exemption doesn’t currently extend to children, and for families with a child in nappies, that’s a real gap.
“That success sits alongside a harder truth. Young families are struggling under the current system.”
Cr Pace said there was plenty of feedback that wasn’t necessarily received by Council officers, but through social media.
“When I posted a simple question to the Seymour community on social media asking whether red fortnightly bin collection was meeting the needs of families with young children, I received over 100 comments and direct messages within 24 hours,” she said.
“I’ll bring the trial amendment back to council when the time is right. In the meantime, I wanted this on the record – the data exists, families are telling us clearly what they need, and it’s on us to go looking for it, rather than waiting for it to land in our inbox.”
The motion to defer was carried unanimously.
