By JESSE GRAHAM
SUBMISSIONS from the public regarding the proposed closure of Healesville’s Waste Transfer Station closed last week and the council will be making a judgment after sifting through responses.
The public submissions period regarding the proposed closure and reduction of hours at Wesburn’s tip ended on Thursday 1 May.
The Yarra Ranges Council will be going through the responses given during the consultation period before the matter returns to councillors for a final decision.
Should the council decide to close Healesville tip and reduce hours at Wesburn, Healesville’s service will close from 14 February 2015 while Wesburn will operate four days a week.
The contract between Yarra Ranges Council and Knox Transfer Station regarding the Healesville tip was meant to run through until 2022, and a council officer’s report given at the 25 March meeting said closing the tip will save $900,000 over the coming seven years.
While open, the Healesville tip does not generate profits for the council because the site is contracted out to Knox Transfer Station while sites such as Wesburn and Coldstream are leased.
However, many community members responded negatively to the proposed closure.
In a letter to Yarra Ranges Council, former president of Healesville Chamber of Commerce Bruce Argyle said that he strongly objected to the proposal and disputed whether the council’s savings by closing the service were necessary.
“Yarra Ranges Council need to realise that not all facilities and services are able to be run at a cost neutral or profitable basis, nor is this possible,” he wrote.
“Together with other community members and business owners, we are regular users of the tip and rely on this facility.”
Healesville Action Group (HAG) members have also written in opposition to the proposed closure, through letters to the Mail, the council and in its regular newsletter.
Through discussion on the Mail’s Facebook page and through Letters to the Editor, not one positive response has been received regarding the proposed closure and reduction of hours at Wesburn.
A spokesperson for Yarra Ranges Council said that the amount of submissions and how many were for and against the proposal was not yet known because the council was still collecting the responses.
No date has been set for the matter to go before the council and no final decision has been made on Wesburn’s reduction of hours or Healesville’s potential closure.
