THE streets of Orange have resembled a tip for several weeks and while the council cannot be blamed for the eyesore it is time to rethink its bulky waste collection.
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The breakdown of a contractor’s truck and the subsequent delays in picking up kerbside rubbish has been one explanation for the growing piles of junk on many city streets.
All residents should have been notified of the collection period and what was acceptable to leave out, but as the days rolled on and the piles of rubbish remained many people who had missed the cut-off date probably thought they still had time to clean out the garage like the neighbours.
For every ratepayer who put out a reasonable amount of rubbish there would be half a dozen or more who put out nothing.
These residents who take their own rubbish to the tip or hire a skip should be asking why a portion of their garbage charges are being used to help another resident clean up for free.
And then there are the people who totally ignored the council’s guidelines on the size of items and the quantity of rubbish that would be collected and put a fair proportion of their home contents onto the street for a ratepayer-funded trip to the tip.
The trouble is once the rubbish has been put out council has little option but to collect it. If the size of the pile is an outrageous abuse of the guidelines, what does the city do if the resident of the adjacent dwelling says it is not his?
Many councils operate a voucher system that requires a rubbish pick-up to be booked. Such a system keeps control firmly in the council’s hands and stops abuse of the “free” service.
If councillors still believe it is reasonable for all ratepayers to fund a service used by a minority, Cr Ron Gander’s suggestion of issuing a collection ticket for a nominal fee could be the way to go.