Parkwood Road green waste facility closure sparks anger in community

The move has been a long time coming, but local residents say there is no proper alternative to the service which has been run for decades by Canberra Sand and Gravel.

Now more than 480 people have signed an online petition calling for the site to stay open.

Michael Wiseman, who made two trips to Parkwood on Saturday, said he managed his parents' and in-laws' gardens as well as his own, and a green-waste bin at each property was still not enough.

"There's a lot of garden maintaining that happens where you need more than just a green bin. The green bins are great - I'm fully supportive of that initiative, and the government needs to be congratulated on that," Mr Wiseman said.

"We all have those but we still use that service very frequently," Mr Wiseman said.

"It's frustrating, I think, that there has been a lack of communication around [the closure]."

Canberra Sand and Gravel director Wayne Gregory said he understood the ACT government's decision to shut down the Parkwood site ahead of greater development at Ginninderry, but he was worried about the damage to his business' reputation.

"Come September, October, people will drive down Parkwood Road and go to drive in the gates, the gates will be closed and they'll say, 'What the bloody hell's going on?'" Mr Gregory said.

"Because, as you know, people just become oblivious to these things until it's time they want to use it."

The site's closure was flagged in 2018, with remediation work set to begin after it shuts to make way for ovals and other public green spaces.

Mr Gregory said his company's Mitchell site was operating at 90 per cent capacity and could not cope with the increased demand after the Parkwood site closes.

He said he had provided two alternative options to the ACT government for consideration, but declined to provide details.

"The bottom line, of course, is what do the residents of Belconnen now do with the green waste that now doesn't go into their bins? From the conversations we're having with people, that's a major problem out there. They don't have an alternative," Mr Gregory said.

In an email seen by The Canberra Times, Mr Gregory asked the government to either relocate the tip to another block in West Belconnen or to close the tip in stages, which would see the facility continue to operate on its northern end.

The petition by Canberra Sand and Gravel, sponsored by Liberal member for Ginninderra Peter Cain, calling on the ACT government to keep the facility open looks set to attract more than 500 signatures, which would mean a referral to a Legislative Assembly committee.

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City Services Minister Chris Steel told the ACT parliament this week the ACT government was reviewing waste facilities in Canberra's north and considering options for future green waste drop-off points.

"We have not ruled out potential additional drop-off sites on the north side, but we are waiting for the review to come in," Mr Steel said.

Mr Steel said the ACT government had not ruled out accepting green waste at the Mitchell transfer station, but defended the closure by pointing to the expansion of green waste bin collections across Canberra.

Mr Cain used an adjournment speech on Thursday to call on the government to keep the Parkwood site open and to listen to community interests.

"Unfortunately, this kind of disdain is par for the course. This Labor-Greens government's inability to provide solutions to real community issues is not a rare occurrence. It seems it is a standard practice," Mr Cain said.

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