Waste fees set to fall

Stirling council agreed to sign a settlement deed with MRC at its last meeting, less than two weeks after regional council members agreed to offer Stirling a discount if it remained part of the council.

The decision ends more than three years of negotiations and uncertainty as the biggest member council sought to withdraw from the group that also includes the cities of Wanneroo, Joondalup, Perth and Vincent, and the Town of Cambridge.

At the MRC meeting on September 5, nine out of 10 member council representatives present voted to reduce this year’s gate fee for member councils from $149 per tonne to $120.

They agreed to entice Stirling by offering it an 8.33 per cent discount on the fee this financial year, which would reduce gradually each year until 2017-18.

MRC chief executive Brian Callander said Stirling had been delivering its waste to the Tamala Park landfill site again since August 5.