TALKING RUBBISH

February 23, 2023
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THE City of Fremantle has voted to dump its bulk waste collection system and replace it with a ‘valet’ verge service that will cost ratepayers $50,000 to help reduce landfill and illegal dumping.
That’s $3.33 a household, according to FPOL chair Jenny Archibald who says from September an additional 2000 households, mostly in City Ward, will benefit from a new ‘on-demand’ service.
City ward’s dumpster diving councillor Rachel Pemberton described the ‘enhanced service delivery’ solution as, “this is the one”.
East Ward Cr Archibald said the extra cost is not an issue, “as the mayor says, the costs are going to increase no matter which service we run. The cost per household is $3.33. It doesn’t mean we are going to increase the rates specifically for that, it’s just that is what it would cost”.
North Ward Cr Doug Thompson said $50,000 was worth it for a more personalised service that achieved the City’s environmental objectives including 67% waste recovery by 2025.
South Ward’s Andrew Sullivan and Marija Vujcic voted against the new pre-booking service presented by officers in a report to council last night.
Hilton Cr Ben Lawver told FPOL results of a 2021 community survey were not included in the City’s report to elected members. He said only 22 percent of ward respondents were unhappy with the existing bulk waste system, wanting more frequent and tidier collections.
He said most people preferred improved service not wholesale changes and referred councillors to a City of Wanneroo survey in which 89% of respondents were against a valet system and 73% were against it because of the increased cost.
“As something as important as collecting rubbish, I really hope as a city we can do better than engage the public … than list it as an agenda item on Friday night, 5pm, and expect people to make a comment before it is discussed five days later.”
Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said any service moving forward will cost more and that to think otherwise, “we’d be dreaming”.
Speaking to whether the service should be delayed until January, Cr Archibald said enough time had been spent talking and that council would review the service after 12 months, “I think once people get the hang of it, it will work much more effectively”.
Cr Lawver said whether the valet service provides a better system is irrelevant when there were still many questions not addressed in the officer’s report including the results of the Hilton survey.
“Reuse is not quantified,” he said, having recently sent 38 ute loads of furniture that would have ended in landfill to the flood-ravaged Kimberley.
“There is no quantification of that reuse and how that affects our community.”
Cr Sullivan said most people still didn’t know what to put in their bins: “It’s so frustrating when we see the community still not understanding the bulk collection in any form.”
He said the City had to lift its game and improve education and communication.
“If we haven’t a done a good job at educating our community which it seems we haven’t … if the community is not using all the services that are available it’s because we haven’t been able to education them. So isn’t the important thing to focus on that rather than saying well maybe changing the service will miraculously fix the problem.
“Why weren’t we focusing on that as a priority rather than change a service that will cost a lot more and pick up a lot less.”
Executive staff told councillors it was about, “source separation and getting residents to take responsibility”.