MAYOR Karen Williams has found an innovative way to come good with her election pledge of a kerbside rubbish pickup.
After discussions with Bowman MP Andrew Laming, Cr Williams came up with a Work-for-the-Dole scheme where residents can call a hotline for a specified time and get big, bulky goods removed for free.
The cost will be borne by a company that successfully tenders to run the self-funded program, which will then oversee the sale of any salvageable items.
Council will call for expressions of interest early next year for the annual service and has set aside $250,000 for the first collections in the 2016-17 financial year.
Tenders, to be formalised by July, will be for the rubbish collection and a recycling workshop where collected rubbish can be repaired, reused, recycled or thrown away.
The kerbside pickup was part of a 2012 election promise by Cr Williams who also vowed to remove tip fees, which she did in her first year in office.
It was put on the back burner after council was forced to spend up to $1.2million on cleaning up after the 2013 Australia Day ex-tropical cyclone Oswald.
“Residents have told us that a collection for large items such as unwanted white goods and furniture is key on the ‘wish list’ for local waste services,” Cr Williams said.
“Beyond the obvious advantages of this initiative for residents it also has enormous potential to be a great community project, with the workshop to be run by a social enterprise, giving disadvantaged members of our community the opportunity to learn new skills.
“The removal of gate fees for domestic users at our waste transfer stations aimed to encourage proper disposal of waste and this is another step in reducing the quantity of material heading to landfill.”
The kerbside service will be on demand rather than on a set date and will save the city from having to endure weeks of rubbish being left on the kerb.
