The recommendation to close the Waste Transfer Stations at Wallagoot, Bemboka & Merimbula to be considered by council is at its ordinary meeting today, is a lazy & careless proposal that lacks sound justification & is a poke in the eye to the communities who will lose their current waste disposal services.
Worse than that, there is no cost/benefit justification offered in support of the recommendation, just vague assertions that everything will be better.
So, councillors are being asked to support a proposal without knowing if it will ultimately cost ratepayers more to provide than the existing service.
Has management’s contempt for the elected council, residents & ratepayers really reached a point where it believes it can do whatever it likes? Seems so.
There has been no consultation undertaken to assess the level of community support for the proposals, just an arrogant acknowledgement that they might prove to be unpopular.
And even the flimsy justifications offered in support of the recommendation are erroneous, with the suggestion that the consolidation of the recycling services will somehow reduce landfill volumes & that communities who will lose the existing services will be better off. The association believes that the word most appropriate to describe the recommendation is “rubbish”.
The suggestion that the recommendation will increase employment does not stand-up to scrutiny, in particular as there is no evidence that the level of recycling will increase should the recommendation be approved. Indeed, the association would argue that that a reduction in recycling facilities will, in all likelihood, result in an increase in illegal dumping of waste to the degradation of our environment.
Council management pretends to afford council three options to choose from but it offers no arguments in support each option over the others. Councillors, along with residents & ratepayers, are simply being led by the nose to support the recommendation without proper justification.
The association believes that the justification offered in support of the proposal has been fabricated to serve council’s real objective, which is simply to justify the expansion of its Central Waste Facility (CWF) at Wolumla.
By its own admission, council confirms that the expected lifetime of the CWF is 19 years, as opposed to the original forecast life of the facility of 30 years, due to the increase in landfill volumes.
The association also notes that the report to council has nothing to say as to the future retention/disposal of the facilities that management wishes to close.
The association believes that council should reject the inferior report being tabled in support of management’s recommendation, treating it with the contempt it deserves.
The association also believes that no change to existing services should even be considered by council until such time as the proposed expansion of the CWF has been approved, in particular as there can be no guarantee that such approval will be forthcoming.
John Richardson
Secretary/Treasurer
Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association
Tel: 0264945669
Email: secretary@begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au
Website: http://www.begavalleyshireratepayers.asn.au