Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Council has promised to lift its game on waste collection after the release of state figures which showed it was paying much more to divert much less waste than other councils.
Overall, the state government’s ‘Know Your Council’ statistics released last week would have been welcome reading for the City of Greater Bendigo, which scored well on a number of core tasks such as governance, maintenance of roads and animal management.
But waste collection figures showed the council paid $40 more collecting each ratepayers bin than comparable councils did and $35 more than the state average in the 2015/16 financial year.
However, the amount of waste the city diverted from landfill was 28.65 per cent.
That figure was higher than the 18.45 per cent the city diverted in the previous financial year but significantly lower than the average for the state and for similar councils – 42.92 per cent and 42.83 per cent, respectively.
City of Greater Bendigo waste services manager Natasza Purser said Bendigo was already on track to turn around its poor record of diverting waste from landfill.
“Yes, we acknowledge we could be doing a whole lot better and we are taking steps to do that,” Ms Purser said.
She said the figures predated both her time in the position and the roll-out of council’s new organic waste service.
“That’s already diverted over 2,500 tones since we started the service, which is coming up to the end week 12,” she said. “That’s going to make a very significant difference.”
Just how significant it would prove Ms Purser said was difficult to predict, but she said the city was setting an ambitious target.
“By the end of ‘16/17 we would like think we would be as good as or better [than the state average],” she said.
The waste services manager said council paid more per bin for collection because its service area covered a higher number of rural areas.
“We travel a long way to collect those bins collection and when you have more isolated areas you are going to have higher costs to services those properties,” she said. “But that is the cost to council rather than the direct cost to residents.”
In 2016/17 most Bendigo ratepayers will pay $123 for kerbside general waste collection, $66.50 for recycling bins and $86 for the organic waste bins.
In comparison, most Wangaratta residents will pay $134 for general waste collection, $96 for recycling and a $134 organics fee.
Most Mildura residents will pay a total of $318.
The city’s corporate performance director Kerryn Ellis said it was pleasing to see the city had performed well across all areas.
“It is particularly good to see that we performed well in the areas of animal management, food safety, home support and libraries,” Ms Ellis said.
“Our statutory planning, home support, roads and aquatic facilities results were also good.
“Our performance was consistent with last year’s results, which shows we are providing sustainable, high quality services that represent good value to residents.
“There are still some areas for improvement but overall, we are performing well compared to similar councils.”