Moorabool Shire residents will soon receive transfer station vouchers as part of a new waste management trial, despite some councillors voting against the initiative.
In a Moorabool Shire Council meeting on April 6, the motion to conduct a three year tip voucher trial from July this year was carried.
The trial will also include two new waste initiatives, ‘free green waste month’ and ‘half price mattress month’.
Residents will receive a voucher for one cubic metre of waste in each annual rate fee notice, with an $26 increase per tenement for ratepayers to account for expenses.
According to a council report, there were 582 incidents of illegal dumping in the Moorabool area since July 2021.
The council vote on the trial was divided, with three out of seven councillors including Mayor Cr Tom Sullivan voting against the motion.
Cr Rod Ward said the high level of illegal dumping in the area was a “blight” on the Moorabool Shire.
“I’m quite keen to see this trial run and let the ratepayers and residents of Moorabool vote with their feet on whether they want this service,” Cr Ward said.
Cr Tonia Dudzik said tip vouchers had been wanted by the community for the ten years that she’d been on the council.
“This is one way to fight illegal dumping, it’s also giving the community what they’ve been asking for many years,” Cr Dudzik said.
Cr Mayor Tom Sullivan spoke against the motion and argued that the tip voucher trial would send the wrong message about illegal dumping.
“The fundamental premise of what we have here is that giving out these tip vouchers is going to stop illegal dumping in this municipality and I can’t see that happening,” Cr mayor Sullivan said.
Cr mayor Sullivan noted that according to the council report, only two of the thirteen illegal dumpings that were able to be identified were from residents of the Moorabool Shire.
“I think this is a case of the many having to pay for the actions of the few and I think it’s not reasonable and it’s not equitable,” he said.
