Ross residents will not gain access to an organic waste pickup service in the wake of October's council meeting.
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The Northern Midlands Council voted on a motion to run a trial in the township, however it deemed the motion as economically unfeasible.
Engineering officer Jonathan Galbraith prepared a report looking into the potential trial, stating that “due to the small number of properties in Ross the costs of running a trial just for the town would be significant”.
There were two options on the table for the trial – a compulsory service for all properties, or an opt-in service.
The report stated that a fortnightly green collection service, covering every property, would cost the council $152 per bin each year.
Meanwhile, an opt-in service would have costed an estimated $391 per bin, annually.
“It's not a cheap thing to provide, and we're trying to provide cost effective services,” Northern Midlands mayor David Downie said.
“The council is saying no at this time, but in the future if we can see a feasible way of doing it, then we will look into it.
“It's got to be done on a bigger scale before the council can do it.”
A green waste collection trial is currently running in Launceston, however only 10 per cent of residents are using the service.
Cr Downie said the council wanted to monitor the Launceston trial before committing to any green waste program in its municipality.
“The discussion [at the meeting] was around seeing how the trial in Launceston goes,” he said.
“The council is still monitoring the situation.”
Ross District Committee chairwoman Christine Robinson said the committee was “disappointed” with the council’s decision.
“There are a lot of retired people [in Ross] and it would have been a very good service for them, because not everybody can take hold of a trailer and take their green waste to the tip,” she said.
“We get told a lot down here ‘you’re not getting this, or that, or the other, because you're only small and you don't have the ratepayers to justify it'.”
The council will now run a municipality survey to gauge the public’s interest in a green waste collection service.