Don’t let it go to waste

AS YOUR local Cheetham Ward councillor, I drive around our community in Geelong’s eastern suburbs each week, trying to make sure that the council is fixing local problems and issues. I see this as an essential part of my role as your local representative.

Over the last two years, I’ve noticed an increase in dumped rubbish in public areas, which I regularly report to council officers to be removed.

It’s unsightly, takes away from the amenity of residents, and costs council money to remove and dispose of.

I want to thank council officers who do the difficult job of cleaning up our neighbourhood – they do a great job.

Last financial year, Geelong council crews responded to almost 7,000 reports of rubbish dumped on nature strips, roadsides, parks and public places.

Complaints of illegal dumping in Greater Geelong are increasing by 18 per cent each year, becoming a widespread problem across the region.

Deliberately leaving or burying rubbish on private or public land can harm the environment, wildlife and in some instances, our health and safety. It also costs our ratepayers approximately $800,000 every year.

While our council team is busy responding to the management of this waste, we are using resources that could be better directed elsewhere on projects that benefit ratepayers and our community.

Council has a hard waste service that residents can use to safely and legally dispose of rubbish twice a year for general household rubbish and twice a year for mattress collection.

I would encourage residents to make use of this service when disposing of hard waste.

The service is available to all occupied residential properties in our municipality and residents can book two collections per financial year.

Whitegoods, metal appliances, furniture, timber, ceramic, empty paint tins, mirrors, fabric, metal and electronics can all be collected through this service.

Registering hard rubbish collection is a win-win for all involved. It saves you a trip to the tip and it keeps our streets clean.

The hard waste program has undertaken an impressive 14,500 removals in the last six months.

It is encouraging to see so many people registering their hard waste so we can dispose of it in a timely and efficient manner.

In addition to this ongoing service, Council is working on other ways to support our community in safely disposing of waste.

I hope that in future more people will make the most of these services, keeping our streets clean and reducing the impact on our waste management resources.

To find out more about the hard waste collection service, head to geelongaustralia.com.au/hardwaste

Cr Melissa Cadwell

Cheetham Ward,

City of Greater Geelong