Coffs Council, Biomass Solutions end waste contract disputes

Coffs Harbour City Council has a big win as multiple rubbish disputes conclude, saving an estimated $14 million – minus the millions spent on lawyers.

A load of waste is dumped at the Englands Road rubbish tip at Coffs Harbour. Picture: Trevor Veale

A long-running saga involving three councils, a contractor and thousands of red bins has now come to an end, putting the region’s rubbish destiny back in the hands of the community.

Coffs Harbour City Council and waste contractor Biomass Solutions have come to an agreement over what had become a pointless waste recycling scheme, officially bringing an end a costly contractual dispute that started in 2018.

The council’s director of sustainable infrastructure, Mick Raby, on Friday said he was thrilled with the outcome after the mixed waste organic output scheme was ended.

He said the agreement meant Biomass would no longer reprocess red bin waste and instead it would be council’s to deal with, giving it control over the waste five years earlier than when their 22 year contract was set to end.

“This will save a significant amount of money – about $14 million dollars,” he said.

Mr Raby said it would be up to the next council to progress a new strategy to deal with the region’s waste.

Mick Raby is thrilled that Coffs Harbour City Council can now move in any direction it chooses with regards to red bin waste.

The dispute between the parties arose after a state government decision prevented the reprocessed waste from being reused, leaving the council with a $75,000-a-week bill for trucking the product to landfill in Tamworth.

Councillor Sally Townley was pleased the council had “finally stopped the haemorrhage of money” in legal disputesbut she said it had a lot of ground to make up on waste processes.

Ms Townley estimated the council has spent more than $6 million in legal fees on the issue and said it was still faced with the prospect of having no space to deal with its own rubbish locally.

“Hopefully now we are not engaged in expensive and acrimonious court battles we can put some energy into figuring out a sustainable future in waste disposal,” she said.

Sally Townley says there is plenty of work to do on Coffs Harbour’s waste issues.

Ms Townley sensationally revealed the “secret” cost of the legal disputes in a council meeting in June.

Nambucca Valley and Bellingen Shire Councils were also included in the scheme and have similarly come to an agreement with Coffs Harbour who will now write off a $1.22 million claim against its neighbours.

The claim sought reimbursement of a percentage of the transportation costs borne by the council.

Council managed to halve that cost in July under a plan which resulted in the product being trucked to Queensland instead.

Mr Raby said the council had the foresight to ensure the Queensland contract was “flexible” so that different types and quantities of waste could be sent north.

“That contract remains unaffected,” Mr Raby said.