By Goya Dmytryshchak
Hobson Bay council should cut rates if it is reducing garbage collection, a western metropolitan region MP says.
Bernie Finn’s comments follow the council’s decision to introduce four bins for kerbside collection this summer, including glass and food waste bins, and to reduce garbage collection to fortnightly instead of weekly.
The council’s recycling costs have risen from $7 million to $8 million following the closure of its contracter, SKM Recycling, and the new service is expected to bring the cost to $8.1 million annually with a $4 million once-off capital cost.
“If they’re going to cut a basic service by 50 per cent, they should provide at least – at least – a 20 per cent rate cut to ratepayers,” Mr Finn said.
“This is not going to cut down people’s rubbish, what it means is they’ll have to keep it in their homes and that’s just quite nonsensical.”
Mayor Jonathon Marsden said residents would have 116 waste collections a year under the new system, up from 104.
“With a small bit of effort from our community, we are redirecting almost half of household waste – in the form of food waste – from rubbish bins into a different stream,” he said.
“We understand that some households will need additional rubbish bins for periods of time according to their particular circumstances.
“Our new model will respond to that and we will continue to make any additional bins available at an affordable cost.”
Altona Meadows mother of two children aged 12 weeks and 22 months, Jen Hudson welcomed the change.
“A change like this and the fact that Hobsons Bay council have declared a climate emergency is really in line with my values and I think it’s an important change.
“I definitely think it’s going to be challenging – we’re going to have to make small adjustments here and there for sure – but our household is going to be looking at it as an opportunity.
“I think that the bigger picture is something we should focus on because nappies don’t just go away – they are taken away but they don’t just disappear.”
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