Mornington Peninsula Shire is calling on the State Government to support a regional waste project after refusing to commit to South East Metropolitan Advanced Waste Processing’s procurement process “under the proposed terms and timeframe” until it could properly assess the risks involved.
The Shire last year joined 14 other councils in Melbourne’s southeast to form SEMAWP to deliver an advanced waste processing alternative to landfill. In a statement today it said it was writing to the other councils and the SEMAWP board “highlighting council’s significant concern with the procurement process and requesting a delay to the tendering process pending the provision of additional information and a response from the State Government”. It said it would also “investigate the risks associated with an unsighted waste contract for a 25-year term and unknown liability”.
“As a regionally significant waste project, we expect the State Government to address the substantial risks to ratepayers and provide legislative certainty for the future of alternative waste,” Mayor Anthony Marsh said. “A commitment to the current procurement process would have exposed the Mornington Peninsula Shire and its ratepayers to unacceptable financial risk and would have been reckless. We are calling on our fellow SEMAWP shareholder councils and the board to delay the procurement process to facilitate the supply of critical information and a thorough assessment of the risks to councils.”
In its statement, the Shire said SEMAWP’s aim was to help councils deliver an advanced waste processing centre that would process household rubbish instead of burying it in landfill. Such centres are regulated by the EPA and need to be appropriately located, constructed and operated according to strict regulations that minimise risks to the environment and people. The Shire said advanced waste processing solutions would play a significant role in achieving the new target to divert 80 per cent of household rubbish from landfill by 2030.
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