Tenterfield Shire Councillors Lawrie West and Phil Yates are calling for an administrator to take over the running of the council if the shire’s environmental issues cannot be addressed.
Both men have called for an extraordinary meeting of the council to be held urgently to address a number of waste management issues, including those raised as a result of last week’s fire at the Tenterfield Waste Transfer Station.
“This extraordinary meeting is an emergency meeting to address the waste management problems of Tenterfield Shire and the council’s failure to comply with requirements of the Environmental Protection Authority Operations Act 1997 and the National Park Wildlife Amendment Act 2010,” the councillors wrote in a letter to Tenterfield Shire Mayor Toby Smith.
Councillors West and Yates want the meeting’s agenda to consist of a number of items including a vote of no confidence in the council’s general manager Jim Gossage, the failure of the council to brief councillors of the fire at the waste transfer station, the delays in reporting the fire to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by the council’s environmental department and the operation of the waste transfer station without a licence.
They also want the closure of Tenterfield’s recycling operation at the waste transfer station and issues surrounding the Boonoo Boonoo landfill to be discussed.
“If there is no clear way to correct these matters the Mayor is to notify the Minister Hon Don Page to appoint an administrator,” the councillors said in the letter calling for the extraordinary meeting.
Both men also want an inspection of these waste management sites by councillors prior to the extraordinary meeting with EPA and National Parks staff to also be present at the inspection and the meeting.
Cr West hoped the meeting would be public and that “the community would come and support it”.
“The whole thing is totally out of control. These issues are destroying the environment and cheating the people,” he said.
“I’m flabbergasted that the EPA has not come in and hit the council hard with a substantial fine,” Cr Yates said.
The date and time of the meeting were unavailable at time of print.
