Hard rubbish delay with fine threat

FRANKSTON City residents who put out their hard rubbish during the usual October collection period could face fines of up to $17,000 for “illegal dumping”.

Frankston Council has pushed back the date of their annual hard rubbish collection by six months from October 2018 to April 2019.

Frankston Council’s deal with their current hard rubbish contractor is set to expire in October. The council shopped around for other contractors at the beginning of the year before eventually choosing to stay with the same service provider.

A council statement said that “the tender process commenced in early 2018 to align with the completion of the last contract extension ending at the start of October. Council was seeking a competitive market of service providers, however, unfortunately there continues to be a shortage of providers that can offer annual municipal-wide hard waste collections.”

The hard rubbish service provider now has a scheduling conflict with the usual October pick up period, resulting in the change.

Frankston council mayor Cr Colin Hampton said “we realise this is a substantial change to the usual timing of the hard waste collection, however Council had to make this change due to the availability of the service provider.

“The important thing is that the service will happen this financial year, however in the meantime, residents can still visit the local recycle centre which accepts many items free of charge.

“Alternatively, I would encourage those residents holding quality items for hard rubbish to consider registering for the Garage Sale Trail happening in late October.”

Residents can book an additional paid hard waste collection of 2 cubic metres at any time of year for a standard price of $180.

First published in the Frankston Times – 24 September 2018