RESIDENTS within the Shire of Dardanup are now able to adapt their three-bin system thanks to a community petition requesting a larger, general waste bin.
As decided at the Shire of Dardanup's ordinary meeting on February 23, the council voted to adopt an additional, one off charge of $50 that residents can now pay to replace their 140-litre general waste bin with a 240-litre bin.
The charge will be added to the councils' 2021/22 Schedule of Fees and Charges.
The petition, which had over 800 signatures, came to council in November 2021, less than one month after the shire implemented the three-bin system.
As organised by West Dardanup resident Simon Bushell, the petition allowed the community to express their frustrations over the 'one-size-fits-all' approach of a 140-litre general waste bin for all properties.
Mr Bushell said when the system was first implemented in October, the 240-litre general waste bin was swapped to 140-litre to encourage residents to use the new 140-litre food organics, green organics bin.
But with the mix of semi-rural properties in the shire, the smaller general waste bin was not enough, which Mr Bushell said resulted in some residents having to use the FOGO bin incorrectly due to a lack of space in the general waste.
"I understand that the way going forward is to reduce general waste, which includes emptying the bin fortnightly rather than weekly," he said.
"But residents should have always been given a choice of what size bin they had in order to allow each household to be catered for correctly."
Shire president Mick Bennett said the decision to change the service was a "great outcome" for the community, with 189 people within the shire already taking it up.
"We should be congratulating shire staff for coming up with this alternative motion," Cr Bennett said.
The decision to implement the three-bin system change was carried eight to one.
Shire of Dardanup rate payers can now opt to change the size of their general waste bin for $50, in addition to the usual payment of $229.70 per annum for the service.
The general waste and 240-litre recycling bin will still be emptied fortnightly and the 140-litre food organics, green organics bin to be emptied weekly.