THE future operation of Mitchell Shire Council reuse shops was on the agenda last Monday night as the final council meeting of the year was held.
The agenda of the movement was to award a two-year contract to Resource Recovery Australia for $939,338.40, which was also designed to authorise Chief Executive Officer Mary Agostino power to extend the contract for a further two-year term, depending on the contractor’s performance and Council needs.
The contract is designed to transform the two reuse shops in operation in the Mitchell Shire, with the Seymour reuse shop currently not operational, while Wallan’s is open every second Saturday to the public.
Councillor Claudia James outlined her support for the proposal at the meeting.
“I’d like to support this recommendation. As an example of reusing goods that can be repaired and stored, it’s also an opportunity to teach people how to repair and restore second-hand goods and to bring them back to new or nearly new,” she said.
“It’s an opportunity to employ people who may find it difficult to get jobs, and I know that, for instance, in Wallan, the reuse shops are always extremely popular. It’s where a lot of people do find a bargain.
“There are a lot of people who go searching for great bargains, and believe me, with a little bit of spit and polish, you can do a lot of things. I’ve repaired a lot of children’s toys that I’ve found in op-shops, and you just give them a good clean and they are like brand new.”
However, Cr Ned Jeffrey had a different opinion, saying the costs did not add up to the amount of landfill, particularly in Seymour.
“I would like to speak against this motion, on the basis purely of expense,” he said.
“While I acknowledge the previous councillors who have spoken about the fact that it is great to see items being recycled and reused in the community, the sheer expense of nearly $1 million dollars, some of which to be recouped hopefully through potential sales, would be a real crazy waste of ratepayers money.
“It is not the responsibility of ratepayers to manage our recycling, and it is also not their responsibility to pay for employment, be it a good cause or not.”
Cr Jeffrey said the economics of how much landfill would be used did not meet community expectations.
“I’ve done some quick numbers here, recently we supported a motion of $175,000 to divert two to three thousand tons of landfill to the Hanson landfill, which means we know that landfill is around that sort of 50 to 100 dollar mark for a ton of landfill,” he said.
“We know that on top of that, there’s the freight costs, and in Seymour, the freight would literally be from the recycle centre, 200 metres to the landfill.
“Considering we only take 576 tons of refuse per month, we would actually need to divert 22 per cent of that, so someone has to sort through all the rubbish that goes to the tip and find 22 per cent of it to divert to this project to make it pay for itself.
“Now, I think everyone acknowledges the economics of this project is miles out, but I think if I can give you some idea of how far out it is, the numbers that are indicated in the file here are very optimistic for a town like Seymour, that doesn’t have the nice items being thrown out.
“If we were in the centre of Toorak, with rich mahogany sideboards being thrown out, you might be able to recoup your funds, but the stuff being thrown out at Seymour will not be able to be recycled to the value of 22 per cent of the stuff.
“For that reason, on economics alone, this proposal should not be supported.”
Cr James replied, saying funding and sales would be enough to offset the cost of the project.
“I think Cr Jeffrey has left out a couple of things in the story,” she said.
“Because it’s a social enterprise model, there will be government funding for this to support disadvantaged people to help in the workshop, so we can subtract that amount of money from the total.
“You can also subtract sales from the shop from the total as well. Then you can subtract the landfill, what you’re paying there, so there’s three aspects that may not sound as dire as you are making out.”
The proposal was carried narrowly with a vote of five to three, with Councillors John Dougall, Riley Evans, James, Bob Humm and Bob Cornish voting for and Councillors Andrea Pace, Timothy Hanson and Jeffrey voting against. Councillor Nathan Clark was absent and therefore did not vote.
Cr Dougall said the move will deliver community benefits.
“Reuse shops give household goods and materials a second life helping to cut down on waste and support sustainable living,” he said.
“They are a simple, practical way to support a local circular economy right here in Mitchell Shire.”
