Page 1417 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 1 May 1990
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amounting to nearly $4,000 per week. Having listened to Ms Follett talk about the needs of the Ainslie residents to recycle, you would have imagined that they never got around to dumping any rubbish there at all, that all they did was go there to deliver their empty cans and bottles. But most of the rubbish deposited at the transfer station could be composted in householders' backyards.
Mr Wood: That is a nonsense. What figures can you quote on that?
MR DUBY: I can quote figures. There is 240 tonnes - - -
Mr Wood: No, as to what is compostable and what is not. I've had more experience there than you.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Jensen): Order! Mr Wood, your turn will come.
MR DUBY: It could be said that the closure of the Ainslie Transfer Station should encourage recycling and waste minimisation, which everyone is in favour of, I hope.
There were obvious problems and considerable costs in maintaining the Ainslie Transfer Station under the previously existing arrangements. The contractor wanted more money to cover the costs of vandalism, fire and theft, which have occurred at the facility. The Ainslie Transfer Station was costing the ratepayer $200,000 per year.
The Canberra Times today reported that considerable amounts of money have recently been spent on ensuring users' safety at the Ainslie Transfer Station. However, the report in the Canberra Times is, as usual, incorrect. Necessary work has been undertaken since 1987, and the total cost is in the order of $60,000, not almost $90,000, as reported. Works undertaken since 1987 have included $7,000 for a sprinkler system following fire damage as a result of various causes; earthworks at a cost of $9,000 to re-establish the ground which had become unsafe after heavy rain; security, lighting and power supply at a cost of $25,000 to combat the problem of vandalism, and $18,000 to repair paper recycling facilities.
The cost of current and likely future annual repairs and maintenance costs for the transfer station will more than cover the extension of current recycling facilities. Those costs were in addition to the contract, and it was anticipated that those costs would have been continued in years to come.
The Government has announced that it will soon open a new recycling facility at Mitchell. This will provide a more convenient and efficient facility for north Canberra and Gungahlin residents as well as the commercial sector at Mitchell. In the meantime, facilities have been provided at Dickson and Hackett shopping centres. Indeed, they are now much closer to the users of the Ainslie Transfer
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