By Alesha Capone
A Wyndham councillor has suggested the council offload the Werribee tip if it can’t create a separate subsidiary to manage the site before the end of the year.
Cr Josh Gilligan said the council had no cash reserves to upgrade the tip to attract private sector investment or transform it into a more environmentally-friendly operation.
“If we fail to commence the process of structurally separating the RDF (refuse disposal facility) by the end of this year, it is time to consider simply selling out of the facility altogether,” he said.
“Our failure to innovate and adapt in the face of seismic government intervention in the waste and recycling sector will see our city all the poorer in the years and decades to come.”
Cr Gilligan made the comment at a public meeting last week, during debate of the council’s financial report for July to December 2020.
According to the report, the council saved $2.9 million on spending at the Wests Road tip from July to December because of a lower Environment Protection Authority levy and reduced spending on operations and materials during the coronavirus pandemic last year.
The council can expect to save about $4.2 million in expenses related to the tip, by the year’s end, the report stated.
Cr Gilligan suggested that the council create a commercial subsidiary with its own board to manage the tip, the same as it has done for Wyndham’s leisure centres.
He said this would lead to “bigger and better environmental outcomes and financial dividends to ratepayers”.
The council’s strategic plan for the tip is to potentially transform the site into a precinct focused on resource recovery, with complementary businesses located nearby and “green jobs” for residents.
The cost of doing this has been estimated at $20 to $100 million, according to the Wyndham Refuse Disposal Facility (RDF) Strategic Plan 2019-2025.
The council’s director of city operations Stephen Thorpe said that when preparing the plan, the council “considered in detail its continuing involvement in the Refuse Disposal Facility”.
“As outlined in the strategic plan, there is a goal to improve governance by investigating the establishment of a Local Government Business Enterprise, similar to the model for Western Leisure Services,” Mr Thorpe said.
“This would provide a skills-based board to oversight the development and operation of the RDF as it transitions away from direct landfill to a more resource recovery and diversion model.”
Wyndham council has owned and operated the Werribee tip since the 1970s and is one of only a few council’s continuing to manage the tip.
In the west, Melton council has its own transfer station in Cobblebank and contracts with other waste removal services.
Brimbank council has a recycling and waste contract with Cleanaway while Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong councils have multiple waste and recycling contracts with private companies.
