29/09/2023
Dear Councillors,
Without Prejudice
We have been asked by numerous residents in the Yarra Ranges to conduct a review of the information in relation to the reduction in weekly rubbish collection.
This is not a new topic around the traps, several Councils have changed to fortnightly rubbish collection, several have remained weekly, and a small number have already shifted back to weekly after extensive community anger. We have spent many hours reviewing ALL the information you have presented to the public.
The notion that reducing collection to fortnightly (based on this diagram) is false. This is NOT representative of Yarra Ranges actual waste and is an "estimate".
Therefore there is no actual science around this issue.
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Also, Council is forcing (in the case of YRC) FOGO onto residents in a municipality that has large existing FOGO capabillty in situ. Many residents have been composing their FOGO for years (far more than most councils) and Council has failed to uncover this evidence and accommodate it. You are legally trapping many people into a service that they may not require, cannot get out of, and have no use for (despite you charging separately on the rate bill).
This could lead to serious claims of third line forcing for a service not required or asked for.
By charging a separate waste levy, allowing some to be exempt and not others, you are actually discriminating in the provision of Council services.
Council has the ability and the technology to allow opt out - that is indisputable. Council should allow opt out where the service is not needed and run standard enforcement action where a resident fails to adhere to FOGO requirements.
Section 106 of the LGA deals with service provision:
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2020 - SECT 106
Service performance principles
(1) A Council must plan and deliver services to the municipal community in accordance with the service performance principles.
(2) The following are the service performance principles—
(a) services should be provided in an equitable manner and be responsive to the diverse needs of the municipal community;
(b) services should be accessible to the members of the municipal community for whom the services are intended;
(c) quality and costs standards for services set by the Council should provide good value to the municipal community;
(d) a Council should seek to continuously improve service delivery to the municipal community in response to performance monitoring;
(e) service delivery must include a fair and effective process for considering and responding to complaints about service provision.
I am dismayed and disappointed that Councillors have backed a recommendation that ignores the following FACTS:
60% of residents (from your sample of over 7,000) want the WEEKLY collection to remain.
There is NO target of reduction mentioned in the CIRCULAR ECONOMY (WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING) ACT 2021 (NO. 55 OF 2021) (austlii.edu.au)
Council is required to provide the streams of collection by 2030 - this has no obligation to reduce waste collection
ALL Waste charges are now recoverable under the waste levy/charge - there is no additional cost to Council regardless of the collections
The only mention of waste reduction targets comes from the State Recycling Policy - attached, this is not legally binding on Council, it is a statewide guide and policy.
There are no penalties in legislation for not reducing waste to landfill by any amount or date.
The State government is NOT mandating anything upon municipal councils (these claims are misleading and deceptive to the community)
Council can choose to reinstate weekly collections should the community wish to do so.
I believe the decision made has been made without evidence and fact.
Officers have presented non-evidence-based information and rhetoric that has coerced and convinced Councillors to act in a certain way.
The role of a Councillor is clear:
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2020 - SECT 28
Role of a Councillor
(1) The role of every Councillor is—
(a) to participate in the decision making of the Council; and
(b) to represent the interests of the municipal community in that decision making; and
(c) to contribute to the strategic direction of the Council through the development and review of key strategic documents of the Council, including the Council Plan.
(2) In performing the role of a Councillor, a Councillor must—
(a) consider the diversity of interests and needs of the municipal community; and
(b) support the role of the Council; and
(c) acknowledge and support the role of the Mayor; and
(d) act lawfully and in accordance with the oath or affirmation of office; and
(e) act in accordance with the standards of conduct; and
(f) comply with Council procedures required for good governance.
(3) The role of a Councillor does not include the performance of any responsibilities or functions of the Chief Executive Officer.
Respectfully, the majority of the community responses argued for WEEKLY collections to remain. This is the "representing interests of the community" that you are, at law, responsible to deliver.
We have been inundated by Community Members in your Municipality who believe that they have been ignored, not heard and ultimately SOLD out.
To ask a community a question, to get a clear overwhelming majority answer, and then ignore it, makes a mockery of asking people in the first place!
There is no doubt that waste need to be reduced, yet EVERY part of the Circular Economy Act makes it clear this must be at the source of the problem - MANUFACTURING AND PACKAGING. Council officers have used non evidence based and LAZY policy to implement this recommendation.
Your officers have also failed to give you appropriate reference case studies of it going horribly wrong.
In Hobsons Bay this was implemented and thrust upon the community.
The collections were cut to fortnightly because it was "best practice".
The waste did NOT dramatically lower from this act, instead it remained constant. This led to the community being overrun with residents dumping rubbish in public spaces and bins and creating potential health hazards. Rubbish everywhere made the whole community angry.
There was such a large community backlash that the council ended up going back to weekly collection. What an absolute PR disaster.
The council officers used the exact same information that you have in originally arguing for the fortnightly service..........a spectacular fail.
It was subsequently revealed that there was actually no issue with weekly collections at all.
There is a massive community campaign building on this issue, it will not go away and will only get worse.
May I respectfully request that a councillor be so bold as to dig deeper into this issue before the community forces it by political will.
If you dig in on this issue and fail to listen to your community, it cannot go well.
The role of a Councillor is to represent the interests of the community - not tell them how they should live, cut services, or lock them into an unwanted service.
Warm Regards
Dean Hurlston
Council Watch Inc.
Independent, Investigative, Local.
Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII), a joint facility of UTS and UNSW Faculties of Law.
