Snowy Monaro Regional Council's - Resource and Waste Management Strategy

At the 18 March, 2021 Council meeting, Councillors resolved to place the Draft Resource and Waste Management Strategy out for public consultation.

This Strategy was the result of 2 years work including the engagement of 2 consultants to provide input (one to draft the Strategy, provide a report on the transfer stations and landfill utilisation) into the future of the Snowy Monaro regions waste management services.

These services are a requirement by the Local Government Act. The revenue derived from these services can only be spent by Council to provide these services, and any surplus cannot be used to offset the deficits in other areas of council business.

Council currently provides the following options to the community to manage and dispose of their waste:

1. Kerbside pickup in towns and villages;

2. Banks of Bins in some regional areas;

3. Transfer stations in 6 locations: Adaminaby, Berridale, Bredbo, Numeralla, Nimmitabel and Delegate;

4. Landfill sites in 3 locations: Cooma, Jindabyne and Bombala;

5. Community waste and recycling bins, including at community events;

6. Commercial waste pickup in some locations and options to dispose of waste at landfills or transfer stations;

7. Waste and recycling education programs;

8. Community rubbish collection - Council staff collecting waste from community events and public locations, illegal dumping or waste blown out of bins;

9. Community Recycling Programs at 2 locations and mobile recycling options.

Currently our transfer stations do not just allow us to dispose of household waste and recycling. They also provide for green waste, smaller loads of commercial waste, scrap metal, car bodies, old household appliances and furniture, e-Waste, batteries, and waste oil.

Our landfills provide all of the above plus mattress disposal, grease/sludge, bio-solids, contaminated soils, concrete, rock and timber disposal, tyres, and dead animal disposal. Landfills also sell the following: crushed concrete, screened compost, used cooking oil, firewood and they allow private use of the weighbridge (Cooma and Jindabyne only). Cooma and Jindabyne also allow disposal of asbestos and snow skis, boards and boots.

What does the Resource and Waste Management Strategy propose?

The Strategy proposes the following main changes:

1. To close the 6 transfer stations at Adaminaby, Berridale, Bredbo, Delegate, Numeralla and Nimmitabel;

2. Introduce an expansion of the Banks of Bins, likely with multiple households sharing a group of bins;

3. To close the Bombala landfill and transition Bombala to a transfer station;

4. To further investigate the closure of Jindabyne landfill, transition it to transfer station and send waste to a Cooma facility;

5. To expand the current Cooma landfill or commission a new landfill;

6. To expand on kerbside collection into the village of Numeralla. Approximately 100 households will be provided kerbside collection;

7. To consider options for a bulky waste pick-up service, initially for pensioners and concession card holders;

While the Strategy proposes all of the above, they do not really discuss costs to the rate payer. The below table details the cost of services, including the proposed increase to these costs for next financial year:

Gate fees for the landfills and transfer stations can be found on Councils web page, links below:

Landfill gate fees: Landfill Disposal Fees and Charges | Snowy Monaro Regional Council (nsw.gov.au)

Transfer station gate fees: Transfer Stations Disposal Fees and Charges 2020 - 2021 | Snowy Monaro Regional Council (nsw.gov.au)

Please note: these are also due to change. The proposed fees and charges can be found on Councils 'YourSay' page under Draft Operational Plan: Draft 2022 Operational Plan for the Snowy Monaro | Your Say Snowy Monaro

Now, the same as the Draft Land Use and Draft Settlements Strategies, there is a lot of information to read and decipher. If you are having trouble starting a submission or would like a starting point, we have drafted a submission which can be used completely, partially, or even not at all.

The draft submission has been a group effort from people of the three former Shires, working together to assist our community.