AlburyCity is committed to using community input to review and undertake ongoing improvements in the way it manages waste and recovers recyclable resources. We would be very grateful of your time in completing the following short survey about the use of vouchers for the Albury Waste Management Centre.
We are interested in understanding more about how real estate agents and property managers have been involved in distributing and using resident waste and recycling vouchers. Your survey responses will be kept confidential. We will use everyone’s responses to help us make improvements to the voucher system.
The Current Resident Waste and Recycling Voucher System
Since 2010 Council has been providing all residential property owners with four resident waste and recycling vouchers per property. Vouchers are distributed to property owners with property rates notices each July in hard copy. A minority of ratepayers receive their rates notices electronically. Each voucher permits the recipient to dispose of one load (up to 500 kg) of general household waste at the Albury Waste Management Centre.
A separate on-demand online voucher system has already been in place for tenants since July 2019. This requires tenants to provide a lease agreement or utility bill to prove their eligibility. The timeframe to issue vouchers is within a 14-day turnaround from the initial request.
Proposed Changes to the Resident Waste and Recycling Voucher System
Council is proposing to introduce a single on-demand online voucher system rather than have separate property owner and tenant voucher systems. This would provide a total of four vouchers per property to the property resident. If the property is owner-occupied the vouchers will be distributed to the property owner. If the property is rented the vouchers will be distributed to the property tenant.
Under the proposed system the recipient would request a voucher through an online or in person form including proof of residency - this is the current process for the tenant on-demand online system. Vouchers will be issued instantly online and provided on-the-spot at AlburyCity Customer Service Centres. The vouchers would be emailed to the recipient but hard copies would also be available via Council’s Customer Service Centres where requested.
The purposes of the proposed changes are:
1. To provide a more efficient system than the current hard copy voucher system - this would avoid printing around 24,000 sheets of paper per year.
2. To ensure that four vouchers are available to the residents of each property.
3. To make AlburyCity policy consistent with other NSW Councils and NSW legislation. Most councils already have a single property-based system rather than separate property owner and tenant vouchers systems - this is in line with the Local Government Act 1993.
