TEA Gardens Transfer Station, known by locals as the ‘Tip’, has received a new weighbridge system, traffic light and set of rules to follow when visiting.

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Amy Hill, MidCoast Counil’s Waste Program Coordinator, said that the Tea Gardens Transfer Station is an Environment Protection Authority licensed facility, and one of the conditions of holding this license was to install a weighbridge by 30 June 2020.

“Council is required to ensure all visitors are weighed in and out of the facility from 1 July, and this new system is a ‘user pays’ system where residents are charged per kilogram/tonne of waste rather than a set fee.”

“Generally, people will find that their tipping fees will go down as the per load fee is based on all trailer loads having 300kgs of waste/green waste on it, and most residents drop off substantially less than that in weight per trailer.”

David Lyne, owner of Home and Property Maintenance in Hawks Nest, said that while it may benefit residents, that’s not the case for business owners such as himself.

“It’s probably good for Council revenue, but not for ratepayers and small businesses like tradies.”

“Up until now, it used to cost us between $37 and $70 to drop a trailer load of building debris at the local Tip.”

“Now, with a box trailer weighing 750kg it will cost around $170 to $300 per tonne – so an astronomical increase in waste disposal costs.”

“I’ll be driving the 45 minutes now to the Stroud landfill.”

Unfortunately for those simply wanting to visit the tip shop, visitors can only access the car park onsite by going over the weighbridge which means waiting in line with those being weighed.

Ms Hill continued, “We are investigating a range of alternative options to try to alleviate this issue, including opening the site for longer hours on Sundays, opening the tip shop in the mornings, or opening the site on Saturdays.”

By Ashley CHRYSLER