Break O'Day Council returns split decision on street bin revamp

The Break O'Day Council voted in favour of a refurbishment that will cover its bins in prints made of five millimetre corflute.

The project comes in at an estimated $1870.20 for 50 photographs, or just over $37 each.

The council returned a rare split decision following a lengthy debate, with six for and three against.

Although he voted in favour of the initiative, Councillor Ian Carter said he understood the concerns over the preservation of the municipality's natural look.

"But I think this is an example where something that's eye-catching is also mind-shaping in the sense that people are going to take a more respectful approach to what they do," he said.

"So for that amount of money, I would say it's well worth the educational exercise to see if it succeeds."

But the proposal attracted criticism from Councillor Janet Drummond, who referred back to a 2015 streetscape survey in St Marys.

"The comments from the community were that they wanted that kind of natural looking (fake) wood to fit in with the locale," she said.

"At the moment I'm not a fan because we went through that whole consultation process and we went with what the community desired at that point."

Cr Drummond added that she was in support of a full review of the LGA's bins, but focusing on their aesthetics at this stage was "putting the cart before the horse".

"We're in the municipality, we've got this beautiful environment and people here looking at that in real time," she said.

"I can't see that putting it on a bin is going to be particularly useful, but if we're going to have messages about recycling and FOGO, that's a different kettle of fish."

Councillor Liz Johnstone echoed a similar sentiment and questioned if the scheme would appeal to locals.

"If we're really looking at our bin infrastructure and how we get people to use it appropriately, we don't need to start with showing photos of what people already know," she said.

"So at the moment for me, I don't see this as something that I can support."

Funding for the bin covers will be considered at the 2024/2025 budget deliberations following its majority support.