Concerns over Teesdale’s container return location

THE Golden Plains Shire is home to only one Victorian container deposit scheme refund point in Teesdale, so is that creating a bottleneck?

Owner-operator of the Teesdale General Store and Post Office, Harry Patel, said having the reverse vending machine beside his shop has been a positive experience so far.

“Overall, I’m happy hosting the machine,” he said. “It is good for the community, and for the environment.

“When I advertised the machine, I asked people using it to park their cars so that the driveway is clear, and so that when people are coming to the store, they don’t have any issues.

“The majority of the customers are good, and they park nicely on one side and load everything onto the other side.”

At times, Mr Patel said users of the reverse vending machine have left mess.

“The majority take away the ineligible cans and containers with them, but not all customers are the same,” he said.

“Some leave their garbage bags and empty boxes near the machine. Please take away all your ineligible cans and containers, please don’t dump rubbish near the machine or on site.

“We have limited bins approved by the council for us, but not the general public. It takes time for my staff and me to clean the machine and fix the bins.”

Teesdale resident Ron Hamilton said he’s not so pleased with the initiative, and that it’s been causing more issues than a bit of mess.

“The traffic in the area of the general store has increased markedly and is causing a dangerous situation with cars backing out of the CDS machine location, which only has space for two cars, direct onto the main through road,” Mr Hamilton said.

“Doing U-turns and parking illegally is bound to end up in an accident. Let’s hope it does not involve someone from the nearby school or one of the heavy log trucks, or other heavy vehicles that use this road.

“Far from being a needed service, it is rapidly starting to detract from the township. It’s already starting to look like a charity bin drop-off location.”

Mr Patel said another machine in the area would be beneficial, and he is aware of talks to install one in Bannockburn.