Bin collections causing a stink with business

The Courier has been contacted by shop owners, takeaway outlets and motel operators, all of whom have voiced concerns about changes to the frequency of rubbish collection.

Philip Lockyer, owner of the Kaputar Motel, says under the old arrangement his bins were emptied several times per week, but now he is only entitled to one bin collection per 

week.

“When the contractor changed I didn’t take any notice, other than the fact that a local company was losing its contract, and we like to do all of our business locally,” Mr Lockyer said.

“But then I suddenly got only one pick up per week.”

Like other businesses, his bin full of rubbish was left uncollected on the side of the road.

Upon contacting Narrabri Shire Council, he was told that Namoi WasteCorp had been picking up extra bins without seeking extra payment.

“In the last three years with the old contractor I didn’t have any trouble, I could put as many bins as I liked out, but today they only took one bin,” Mr Lockyer said.

“The normal amount for a motel of my size is two bins every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

Narrabri Shire Council’s community facilities manager, Helen Carroll, says business frustration stems from the fact that many operators were receiving more rubbish collections than they were entitled to.

“The old contractor didn’t observe what people were paying for,” said Ms Carroll.

“If businesses placed out bins for collection the contractor emptied them.”

When Cleanaway took over, many businesses stopped receiving the level of frequency they had become accustomed to.

“A few business owners have been quite irate about the changes, the vast majority have been able to talk through the issues,” said Ms Carroll.

“We’re only eight weeks in, this is a massive change, it has gone predominantly smoothly and if people have issues with their waste collection they just need to contact either Cleanaway or council.”

Mr Lockyer says he has spoken with council and arranged further rubbish collections at an added cost.

“I’ll have to pay $360 a year extra,” he said.

“That’s $1 per day which I will simply add on to my room tax and the customer will know they have a bin tax.”