Charge binned

By Ed Merrison
KNOX City Council has staged a spectacular backdown by scrapping plans to impose a uniform waste charge amid widespread community opposition.
The turnabout was accompanied by an apology from Knox mayor David Cooper and other councillors who had initially promoted the charge.
A packed council gallery erupted in applause as councillors voted unanimously to revert to the existing rating structure in its 2006-07 draft budget and in the process consigning its proposed $116 waste charge to the rubbish bin.
The charge, which was due to be incorporated into the 3 per cent rate rise, was opposed in 160 out of a record 195 submissions to the proposed budget and also generated more than 3500 signatures on petitions.
The result has come as a particular relief to Knox retirement villages who were set to be hit with a 41.6 per cent average rate rise had the charge remained in place.
Knox Retirement Village manager Christine Lewis said the latest development would mean a substantial saving of about $20 per month per village resident.
“We were definitely concerned that (the charge) would go through and we’re all very thrilled that all our efforts have produced a good result.
“(The residents) felt that it wasn’t pointless doing all the petitioning and are pleased the council did listen,” she said.
Bayswater resident Darren Wallace, who led the petition campaign in the wider community, said he was “delighted and relieved that the council has chosen to drop this unpopular and unfair proposition”.
“Those councillors who had originally supported this charge and rate rise clearly underestimated the community’s opposition to such a significant change in Knox’s rating system,” he said.
The waste charge originally enjoyed strong support from the six councillors backed by the Knox Reform Coalition at the last election.
These included Cr David Cooper who just a month ago described it as “a flat charge that makes the rates system fair and equitable”.
Cr Cooper last week said the council’s latest decision showed democracy was alive and well in Knox.
Having thanked residents for their submissions to the budget, Cr Cooper said that to have ignored these would have meant breaking his pact with the people of Knox.
“More importantly, if in supporting the waste charge in the draft budget, which I did with the best of intentions, I contributed to the distress of any ratepayer of Knox, I sincerely and unreservedly apologise.
“We’re elected representatives of the people and sometimes that means you have to admit you’ve got it wrong and you’ve got to apologise to people for getting it wrong and get it right,” he said.
Cr Cooper said people in Knox were sick of rate changes and said he could not see any reason to support the introduction of a flat charge in the future.
Dobson Ward councillor Karin Orpen, one of three councillors who opposed the charge from the outset, said she had been determined to see it scrapped.
“We said it was not right and we said it affected the most vulnerable and we weren’t prepared to accept it.
“It’s a great outcome for the community and I’m glad the council listened to the concerns that were raised,” she said.
The deadline for submissions to the modified Proposed 2006-07 Budget close on Thursday, 13 July ahead of a submissions hearing on Wednesday, 19 July.
A council meeting to consider the adoption of the budget has been scheduled for Tuesday, 1 August.