Local news for local people
This week's Minute with Mayor McKibbin
August 14, 2025
Published on 14 August 2025
Waste is a major issue for Councils now and moving forward. Conceptually constituents broadly support recycling, but some recycling comes at a cost to Council and ultimately ratepayers. Oberon has recently installed a weighbridge at the Waste Depot on Lowes Mount Road and has transitioned to weight based charges from estimated volumetric measurements. This is so a more accurate understanding of the actual cost to Council of the disposal of waste is understood. It is also in line with NSW Government requirements and to ensure that Commercial Operators are paying appropriate fees for use of the facility. This transition will have some teething problems, and Council will be seeking to resolve any issues with customers. Items such as tyres and mattresses are expensive for Council to dispose of and hence charges for these items have increased.
The NSW Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe, and her staff held a Waste workshop with Country Mayors at Parliament House in Sydney on Thursday 6th August. The available Landfill space in Sydney and in country areas was discussed. Mayors made it clear that regional areas did not want to be Sydney's waste dumping ground. Workshop participants raised issues about the cost of introducing recycling programs including Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO). FOGO recycling is mandated from 2030. This will remove a large amount of material that would have gone to landfill, however contamination could still be an issue that needs to be addressed. The Government is looking at legislation to further regulate plastics to ensure they are manufactured as recyclable. It is also investigating placing responsibility on the original equipment producers of batteries and solar panels, so the manufacturer is responsible for recycling those items. This would involve Product Stewardship through the total life of the product with refunds/ financial incentives provided to consumers to encourage them to return batteries and solar panels to nominated location at the end of their useful life.
Minister Sharpe also indicated the Biodiversity Act was being reviewed, including the sections dealing with Biodiversity offsets. This was welcomed by Country Mayors as many projects had become cost prohibitive due to the biodiversity offsets value which had been attributed to the project.
Wyangala Dam wall extension was one such project but there were many other examples. The Ministers staff assured Councils they could always discuss issues with the Department and help could be provided in the calculation of the offsets. It was noted offsets only applied to large projects.
Oberon Council will be holding its second annual Community Services Expo on Thursday 14 August 2024 from 4pm to 7pm at the Oberon Library and Community Centre. The Expo brings together local organisations and service providers, sporting and special interest groups and community members to showcase the wide range of support and resources available in our region. The Expo will include a presentation by Council to the community groups and organisations who have received Section 356 donations this year from Council.
The next Ordinary Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday 19 August 2025, commencing 5:30pm.
Andrew McKibbin
Mayor
