The Rocky Plain Progress Association (RPPA) proposed the facility continue to accept household waste, household recyclable items such as bottles, tins and paper, and green garden waste. They proposed the transfer station remain unmanned and that the disposal of all other waste be prohibited.

RPPA member Ross McKinney addressed council said council’s commitment to a consultation process was a mockery.

“The officer’s recommendation in this report supports a predetermined position [of closing the facility] and there is no evidence the author is willing to reconsider,” Mr McKinney said.

“Why continue with consultation, then shut us down?” he asked.

General manager Joseph Vescio said shire staff had evaluated RPPA’s proposal and council had decided not to proceed with it.

He said council’s resolution to close the facility had never been rescinded and that consultation had become focussed on the provision of waste services in the area after the facility’s closure.

Mayor John Cahill said the tyranny of distance and being a small and isolated community contributed to the loss of the EWTS. He said Snowy River Shire was financially burdened by too many waste collection facilities.

Cr Cahill said a study into waste services in the shire was now complete and as a result a strategic waste management plan would soon be presented to councillors.