By KATH GANNAWAY
THERE HAS been no love lost in recent years between Yarra Ranges Council councillors who voted to close the Healesville tip, and groups like the Healesville Ratepayers Association who argued it was a vital service to the town.
For those who have had a love affair with the local service over the years, Valentine’s Day, Saturday, 14 February, will be the last chance to say ‘goodbye’.
While Ryrie Ward Councillor Fiona McAllister, and before her Cr Jeanette McRae, argued strongly for retaining the Healesville Waste Transfer Station, they were outvoted on the basis the service was “not an efficient use of ratepayers’ money.
In a closing statement issued last week, Yarra Ranges council’s Director Environment and Engineering, Mark Varmalis, said while many Healesville residents had expressed their concern about the proposed closure, low visitor numbers and the comparative costs of keeping it open were had to overlook.
“Currently it costs ratepayers around $55 per visit just to subsidise each visit and sustain the service,” he said.
“With the Coldstream Waste Transfer Station just 16 kilometres up the road, it was hard for council to justify keeping the Healesville facility open,” he said.
He said other inefficiencies such as double handling were taken into consideration.
He said the Healesville closure would save council $900,000 over the remaining seven years of the waste contract.
Yarra Ranges Council heard at its June 10 meeting that Wesburn Tip would also suffer cuts – but not the deepest.
Wesburn’s reduced hours, also in force from Saturday, were part of the conditions put forward by Knox Transfer Station Pty Ltd to let the council out of the remaining seven years of the 10-year contract to service the Healesville tip.
