Northern Grampians Shire Council will introduce new hours at its Transfer Stations to reflect site usage and provide residents with greater access to the service during times of high demand.
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In a community survey conducted by council in September, residents indicated they would benefit from increased opening hours during weekends and peak periods.
Council received a total of 188 responses from residents in regards to the operating hours at the four council managed Transfer Stations. These responses were used by council to assist in setting service standards for the Transfer Stations.
As a result, council agreed to close the Glenorchy Transfer Station and alter the hours of operation at the Stawell, Halls Gap and St Arnaud facilities. A decision had previously been made to close the Marnoo Transfer Station and instead, offer support to the Marnoo Community Recycling Group.
Mayor Cr Kevin Erwin said council would change the operating hours of the Stawell, St Arnaud and Halls Gap sites in response to the community feedback received.
"While we are unable to please everyone, we believe we have come up with an arrangement that will best meet community demand," he said.
"We have introduced seasonal hours at St Arnaud and Halls Gap, while the Stawell Transfer Station will be open for longer on weekends.
"What we've tried to do is keep the facilities open when people are most likely to need them and reduce instances where we have a staff member on site to cater for one or two people."
Council's Director Infrastructure and Environment, Sanjay Manivasagasivam, said in a report presented to council, that it was clear from the responses in relation to the Stawell Transfer Station, that demand was for more weekend hours.
"In summarising the responses received for the Stawell transfer station, 77% of the respondents advised that they had no difficulties in managing their waste with the proposed changes, while 18% advised it would be inconvenient, but they would be able to manage. Only 4% indicated they would have difficulties with the proposed changes," he said.
"It is likely that these respondents either have difficulties with the current operating hours as the proposed changes increase the hours or are proposed on the same days as current but with slight modifications.
"There was significant amount of feedback on the operating hours in the additional comments section (48% of the respondents). The key issue appears to relate to the need for a spread of hours on the weekdays and weekends that cover both morning and afternoon times. This is reflective of the proposed spread of hours."
The Halls Gap Transfer Station will make the transition to updated hours on December 26.
New hours will commence at the Stawell Transfer Station on March 5, 2014, while the St Arnaud Transfer Station hours will change on June 1, 2014.
Stawell Transfer Station accepts general waste, compacted waste, commingled recyclables, green waste, concrete, electronic items, mattress, clean soil, scrap metal, motor oil, car batteries, tyres, gas bottles and DrumMuster.
The new operating hours for Stawell:
December 2, 2013 to March 4, 2014 inclusive: Monday (closed), Tuesday 1-6pm, Wednesday (closed), Thursday 1-6pm, Friday 12-3pm, Saturday 1-6pm and Sunday 1-6pm.
March 5, 2014 onwards: Monday (closed), Tuesday 1-5pm, Wednesday (closed), Thursday 1-5pm, Friday 10am-12midday, Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 10am-5pm.
Halls Gap Transfer Station accepts general waste, compacted waste, commingled recyclables, green waste, scrap metal and mattresses. New operating hours for Halls Gap will be:
December 2 to December 24, 2013 inclusive: Monday and Tuesday (closed), Wednesday 12-5pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (closed), Sunday 12-5pm.
December 26, 2013 to April 30, 2014 inclusive: Monday and Tuesday (closed), Wednesday 12-5pm, Thursday and Friday (closed), Saturday, 10am-3pm, Sunday 12-5pm.
May 1, 2014 to August 30, 2014 inclusive: Monday and Tuesday (closed), Wednesday 1-4pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (closed), Sunday 1-4pm.
September 1, 2014 to December 24, 2014 inclusive: Monday and Tuesday (closed), Wednesday 12-5pm, Thursday and Friday (closed), Saturday 10am-3pm, Sunday 12-5pm.
December 26, 2014 to April 30, 2015 inclusive: Monday and Tuesday (closed), Wednesday 12-5pm, Thursday and Friday (closed), Saturday 10am-3pm, Sunday 12-5pm.
