Rodney Stevens
There will be no bulky waste removal, also known as council kerbside pickup, across the Clarence Valley Council area until July 2023 as council transitions to a new bulky waste collection model which will provide an on-call system to suit individual households, if councillors vote to support the staff recommendation at the March meeting.
In 2020, council opted out of providing the annual bulky waste removal due to implications associated with management of Covid, which resulted in the service not being offered for two years.
Council accepted a tender from JR Richards and Sons to provide domestic waste collection and waste processing services for the next 10 years at its meeting on August 23, 2022.
The new contract moves away from the annual bulky waste removal to an on-call system providing greater convenience and timing to suit individual household needs.
Funding for council’s waste collection comes from the domestic waste charges on ratepayers’ annual council rates, which goes into the Domestic Waste Management Fund DWMF.
“The DWMF made a substantial loss in 2021/2022 of $528,821 largely due to CPI/Rise and Fall increases being much higher than the increase in the annual domestic waste management charge,” council papers state.
“The 2022/23 result is also looking at a loss although much less than 2021/2022, again due to CPI/Rise and Fall increases being above budget estimates.
“Not providing the bulky waste collection before 30 June 2023 will result in savings of about $400,000 and those savings would be returned to the DWMF, thereby reducing loss.”
Council would need to increase the annual domestic waste charge by $18 per household to cover the shortfall if the bulky waste collection went ahead before June 30.
“At a time when interest rate increases and other cost of living expenses are placing households under financial stress it is suggested that not providing the bulky waste service prior to 30 June 2023 is the best outcome,” council papers state.
Normal waste collection will continue until the new bulky waste removal model is implemented.
“Not providing a bulky waste service before 30 June 2023 will not result in significant delay in opportunity to dispose of bulky waste items,” council papers state.
“The service usually occurs in April-June and the new bookable service will be available within a couple of months from 1 July 2023.”
Councillors will vote on the officers recommendation that ‘Council opt not to provide a bulky waste collection service before 30 June 2023 to enable a smoother transition to the new bulky waste collection model that will commence from 1 July 2023 under the new 10- year Domestic Waste Management Contract’ at the March 28 meeting.
The CV Independent will report on the result of the vote in the April 5 edition.