A recent survey of residents ranked the benefit to the environment as the most important factor regarding the future of their waste collection and disposal services, with convenience and affordability also ranking highly.
Extensive public consultation took place over three months including pop-up stalls in shopping centres across The Hills, an online and two face-to-face forums, as well as online surveys attracting more than 2000 resident responses.
“This is fantastic result and shows that our residents are both engaged and informed when it comes to discussing the future of our Resource Recovery Delivery Program,” Mayor of The Hills Shire, Dr Peter Gangemi said.
The Mayor attended the first pop-up stall at Rouse Hill Town Centre and a Community Forum Event held at Rouse Hill Community Centre.
“It was fantastic to meet like-minded people with a passion for our environment who also understood the challenges facing local government in a rapidly growing region,” Mayor Gangemi said.
“I would like to personally thank our residents for their participation and congratulate them on their insightful views,” he added.
A focus for the survey was to gather resident preferences for the transition to the State Government mandate that will see all households be given a Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) kerbside collection service by 2030.
“FOGO will ensure that a significant amount of food waste is diverted from the red lidded bin to the green lidded bin for composting,” Mayor Gangemi said.
Landfill was another priority concern for residents with significant support for new technologies and services to be investigated to reduce reliance on these sites.
“These results show that residents are keen to see changes made that support a more sustainable future,” Mayor Gangemi said.
“Council is always looking at ways it can reduce its own energy footprint, including installing solar systems on our buildings, libraries, childcare centres and even on the brand-new Waves Fitness and Aquatic Centre. We are converting our street lights to LED and installing electric car charging stations, including one at our Administration Building [in Norwest] thanks to funding we’ve received under the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) Program.
“Our Community Environment Centre in Annangrove is a great place to learn more about how to be environmentally conscious. The Centre runs a variety of workshops for residents, including plastic reduction, how to start your very own vegetable garden, composting and much more,” Mayor Gangemi added.
The consultation results will now be incorporated into ‘The Program’ and will help shape the waste service in line with community expectations for the next five years and beyond.
