Carole Johnson hit out at the council at its August meeting last week saying it was failing its residents. 

“The effort if takes for me to disposed of my rubbish with my osteoarthritis is painful. The cost of it is also painful on my budget,” she said. 

Mrs Johnson said the council had previously denied responsibility for the rubbish collection. 

“I was told the Council does not have to provide rubbish collection. This is despite, that in Australia, councils have the responsibility of health and management of waste in their areas,” she said. 

“Putting smelly rubbish in your car is disgusting and a health hazard.”

Ms Johnson said she has to put her rubbish in her car and take it to the tip, then bring her groceries home in the same vehicle. 

The council’s general manager Martin Gill said councillors would be discussing the region’s waste management resources at its next workshop. 

Mayor Craig Perkins said the concerns were shared within the council. 

“We’ve been talking about waste management across the municipality for sometime to see how we can introduce kerbside collection or improve services,” he said.

“Hopefully we can map out a bit of a strategy on how to talk to rural communities about what their expectations are at the workshop. The question is how we engage with the community about how much they will want to pay for it.” 

Cr Perkins said those not receiving kerbside waste management pay about $52 in their rates for tip management fees. Other residents who receive the collection pay about $180. Councils are required to put money aside for the rehabilitation of tips for when they reach the end of their lives. 

“The rehabilitation may cost several million dollars. You’re not going to collect that through tip fees otherwise no one would use the tips and might start illegally dumping,” he said.

Cr Perkins said the challenge is that some residents do not wish to have kerbside collections.

“It has to be all in or all out,” he said.