ANNUAL hard waste collections in Frankston have not yet been binned and a last-minute reprieve has been flagged by council.
Councillors will discuss council’s draft budget for the 2015-16 financial year when it is released for public consultation early next month.
Mayor Cr James Dooley issued a statement last Wednesday (23 March) saying councillors will consider community feedback on any proposal to scrap hard waste collections.
The mayor had previously confirmed hard rubbish collections are not budgeted for in the as yet unreleased draft budget.
“In response to feedback from the Frankston City community about the hard waste collection service, Council will consider the 2016-2017 draft budget at its Ordinary Meeting on Monday 4 April,” Cr Dooley said in the statement.
“This will allow councillors more time to review initial community feedback and consider a range of options for providing hard waste services.
“The draft budget will be released in early April and everyone can have their say about what council services are important to them.”
The possibility of council axing hard waste collections comes in the wake of the opening of the new Frankston Regional Recycling and Recovery Centre at Harold Rd, Skye in October last year.
Frankston residents are charged $65 per cubic metre to dump hard rubbish and $35 per cubic metre for green waste drop-offs.
Council outsources hard waste collections to contractor WM Waste at a cost of $1.5 million to ratepayers last year.
Hundreds of residents were frustrated at the eyesore and nuisance created when last year’s hard rubbish was not picked up for several weeks from many streets after being left out on the required date.
“It should be noted that there was a number of residents that abused the last annual kerbside collection, by exceeding collection limits and including general waste in with their hard waste,” mayor Cr James Dooley said.
“There were also residents from neighbouring municipalities who contributed to the waste.
“The hike in the 2015-2016 hard waste collection was quite significant. There was greater than 20 per cent more waste collected than the previous year. The additional 1,500 tonnes of hard waste collected was enough to fill around three Olympic swimming pools.”
The mayor said the decision to exclude hard waste collections from the draft budget had been made during the budget deliberation process in the past few months.
Council will adopt its final budget for the next financial year in May.
Neighbouring Mornington Peninsula Shire does not office an annual hard rubbish collection service and provides an at-call green and hard waste service for a fee.
