Brimbank’s annual kerbside hard waste collection will start at the end of the month, but residents are still chasing answers after the cancellation of the bundled green waste collection.
Star Weekly recently reported that Albion resident Christopher O’Neill had taken it on himself to survey 100 randomly chosen residents after the cancellation.
His survey found more than 67 per cent of respondents used the yearly bundled green waste service.
Mr O’Neill submitted his findings to the council in a bid for answers.
Not satisfied with the outcome, Mr O’Neill last week put forward another question at the council meeting.
He asked what the yearly tonnage of waste in the bundled green waste collection was for each year from 2010.
In 2010-11, the total amount was 878 tonnes; in 2011-12 it was 1386 tonnes, with a further 1288 tonnes collected in 2012-13 and 1117 tonnes in 2013-14.
“We can see that since 2009 more people have used it and continue to use it,”
Mr O’Neill said.
“The data shows that, even if there is a decrease, it’s still relatively high.
“Ultimately, council has cancelled the service and they won’t reinstate it.
“They’ve not consulted the community in making this decision and have not provided a real alternative.”
Mr O’Neill said it was not a viable option for residents to pay for a green waste bin, and a free alternative was needed.
Brimbank infrastructure and environment director Paul Younis said the cost saved to council from the discontinuation was absorbed into the budget for delivery of services that benefited the broader Brimbank community.
“Council has discontinued its annual bundled green waste collection service because there is a low participation, with about a third of our residents using the service in comparison to 50 per cent of residents who have opted for a kerbside
green waste collection,” Mr Younis
said.
He said residents had the option of the fortnightly kerbside green waste collection or the at-call, user-pays bundled green waste collection.
Green waste collected by the council as
part of the fortnightly green waste bin collection is turned into garden products, including potting mix, mulch and
compost.
Hard waste collection dates and more information can be found at www.brimbank.vic.gov.au
