Capes waste site off agenda

Capes local governments have mostly abandoned long-held ambitions to establish a shared regional tip site. The news comes as the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River concedes it will continue its waste services levy on ratepayers for at least another year while the financial model undergoes review. The recent opening of the Shire’s final waste cell at Davis Road in Witchcliffe also signalled the coming end of a local tip-site option. A report provided to councillors last month outlined further studies would line the road ahead for the thorny issue of waste. Local governments in the South West have sought a permanent solution for a potential shared landfill site for almost a decade, with environmental concerns and the costs involved proving a roadblock. The Shire received a report on landfill options in February, targeting 12 local government areas involved in the effort. The focus of the investigation was now to explore “how South West councils can transition from owning and operating landfills in an economically, environmentally and socially responsible way”. Within the next 12 months, an operational audit of waste facilities and modelling of different scenarios is set to take place. “Alternative disposal processes” and a scoping process to gauge private sector interest will also be examined. Earlier this year, City of Busselton engineering and works services director Oliver Darby said development of a regional landfill site remained “a potential option” but faced capacity, distance and access challenges. “The South West regional waste group are exploring a range of long-term diversion options to move away from and minimise traditional landfill,” he said. Shire sustainable development and infrastructure director Nick Logan said Davis Road would eventually become a waste transfer and resource-recovery station. The regional waste group was also focused on “developing stronger resource recovery options to minimise the amount of waste to landfill rather than creating a new regional waste facility”, he said. The Shire’s 2018 Waste Management Feasibility Study also said a local composting facility proposed by local private businesses had not progressed. Davis Road would be rehabilitated after service was expected to cease in 2025, while Busselton’s Vidler Road site had at least another 20 years of capacity, the study said.