Residents in the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale will be compensated for the (hopefully temporary) loss of the Watkins Rd Transfer Station with three green waste verge collections in the next 12 months.
That’s one more than was originally intended after a last-minute change at Monday’s council meeting.
President Rob Coales made the alteration before council approved Steann Pty Ltd for the two-year tender. Only one tender submission was received by shire officers during the advertising period.
“It’s clear that the community wants council to act,” president Coales said.
“And we need more green waste collections towards the warmer months to mitigate fire risk. I believe that with the funds we have allocated, we can afford three.”
The shire had been looking into adding another collection to the mix after considerable noise from the community; Steann Pty Ltd were contacted by shire officers to see if they were able to add an extra collection to their schedule, and they confirmed that they could sneak in an extra one in July/August at the same contract rate submitted in their tender.
At this stage there will also be two pre-booked bulk household waste collections in that 12-month period. But the tender for those collections is yet to be awarded.
The green and bulk household waste verge collections will revert to two each per household in the 2025/26 year.
Council have also approved the CEO to extend the waste collection contract for an extra year (through to mid-2027) at his discretion, which could just be the shire being cautious, but could also foreshadow a longer road ahead for the remediation of the Watkins Rd Transfer Station.
“Due to the amount of work required to remediate the Watkins Transfer Station (WTS), in particular capping the green waste area, it is not expected that the shire would be in a position to process green waste at the WTS at least for another two years or possibly longer,” officers said in December.
All is expected to be revealed in the coming few months when the costs and scope of the clean-up are brought to council for consideration.
