By JESSE GRAHAM
RESIDENTS are being asked to share their thoughts on the proposed closure of Healesville’s Waste Transfer Station after the mayor’s plea to keep the service going was voted down last week.
At its meeting on Tuesday, Yarra Ranges Council resolved to advertise its intention to close the Healesville Tip in a five-to-three vote, allowing four weeks for public comment.
The deadline for submissions on the matter is 29 April, and, should the council approve the closure, the Healesville tip will take its last loads on 14 February, 2015.
The council’s decision came after lively debate about the need for the service to continue, with the council report stating that closing the service in February 2015 would save $900,000 over seven years.
Mayor Fiona McAllister immediately put forward an alternative motion, which could have seen services at the tip continue until the end of the contract period, in 2022.
Cr McAllister said her opposition to the proposal stemmed from a belief that the council should look for cost efficiencies in practices and not by cutting services.
However, Cr McAllister’s alternative was voted down five-to-three, with the majority of councillors adamant that the savings to the council would outweigh the harm from closing the tip.
Cr Terry Avery opposed Cr McAllister’s alternative motion for the tip and said reining in the council’s spending on behalf of the ratepayers was vital.
“Here is an opportunity to save $900,000 over a seven-year period,” he said.
“That is a significant amount of money where we can save and use that money to put into the Coldstream and Wesburn facilities.”
The Healesville and Coldstream tips are 23 kilometres apart, which is a similar distance between other towns in the Yarra Ranges and their closest tip.
Cr Andy Witlox also opposed Cr McAllister’s proposal and disagreed with her statement about cutting the service.
“I don’t see this as cutting core services, but as rationalising core services,” he said.
“Although I think it’s a core service, it’s just not economically viable.”
“Cr Avery said that the savings would be around 1 per cent of council’s total rate revenue – which was $107,657,000 in the 2012/13 financial year – but, over the next seven years, the $900,000 would actually equal around 0.12 per cent of total rate revenue.
That equates to 12 cents out of every $100 in a ratepayer’s bills over the time period.
The Healesville tip, however, does not result in any financial return to council, as the grounds are contracted to Knox Transfer Station Pty Ltd to operate during weekends, while Coldstream and Wesburn are leased.
When the result of the council’s decision was posted on the Mail’s Facebook, every comment posted in response was negative towards the tip closure, though some criticised high fees as reasons for low patronage.
The increase in tip costs across the Yarra Ranges is a result of the EPA’s Landfill levy rising from $9 per tonne of rubbish to $53.20 per tonne in 2013/2014.
Yarra Ranges Council’s environment and engineering director Mark Varmalis said the EPA levy accounted for about 65 per cent of tip fees.
The levy will increase to $58.50 per tonne for the 2014/2015 year.
As of Tuesday 1 April, members of the public will have 28 days to make a written submission to the council on the proposal, with a final decision on the proposed closure to be made by council in the future.
The proposal also includes reducing Wesburn tip’s opening hours from five days to four days a week.
What do you think of the proposal to close the Healesville Tip? Write a letter to the editor at PO Box 470, Healesville, Victoria, 3777.
