Waroona residents start dumping hard waste despite the town’s collection being delayed until December

Waroona residents have started dumping hard waste in their front yards despite the annual collection being delayed until the end of this year. The rubbish run normally takes place in August each year, but the Shire of Waroona confirmed a contractor would not complete the pick-up until December. Waroona Shire president Mike Walmsley said the council had attempted to tell residents hard rubbish collection would not be at the usual time. “People just assumed it was going to be happening when it normally does, which is genuinely around this time of year, so people have put their rubbish out and will have this stuff on their verge until December,” he said. “There may be a bit of angst but we have been trying to let people know as much as we can. “It is unfortunate it is in December, but that is out of our control. “We are still offering the service to ratepayers, it is just going to be a couple months later.” The Shire said in the past, waste collection would take more than six weeks because different materials would need to be collected separately. Cr Walmsley said it would now take only two weeks because the company could collect everything at once. “When our staff are out doing it, it takes them away from other jobs,” Cr Walmsley said. “Last year, it took around six weeks and while they’re doing that, there is other stuff that isn’t getting done.” The council said the new system would result in a quicker and more streamlined operation, with options to recover and recycle materials to reduce landfill. “We have been told it is going to be a better service as far as recycling and things being separated,” Mr Walmsley said. “They will come through in one hit, I believe, because they are a bit more resourced than we are. “It is not going to save us a lot of money, but it isn’t an extra cost and will certainly make it a lot quicker.” The Shire said the collection timeframe was dependent on contractor availability.