Wattle Range fire risk focus

John Drew Bushfire Pic  TBW Newsgroup
FIRE QUERIES ANSWERED: Wattle Range councillor John Drew has queried aspects of fire prevention and management in the Wattle Range Council area. Picture: Caroline Hammat

John Drew Bushfire Pic TBW Newsgroup
FIRE QUERIES ANSWERED: Wattle Range councillor John Drew has queried aspects of fire prevention and management in the Wattle Range Council area. Picture: Caroline Hammat

MOUNT Gambier City Council has yet to decide if it will grant a seat at the table to Wattle Range Council at private discussions tomorrow about the Caroline landfill.

Facing a $35,000 spike in its dump fees, Wattle Range Council voted unanimously at its first council meeting for 2020 a week ago to attend the closed door meeting.

The closed forum at 5.30pm at the Mount Gambier Civic Centre will canvass options for the regional dump.

City Council chief executive Andrew Meddle said no decision had been made on whether Wattle Range Council could attend.

“Should we receive a request from Wattle Range Council to attend the upcoming designated informal gathering (workshop) scheduled for next week the request will be considered within the context of the confidentiality provisions set out in the Local Government Act,” Mr Meddle said.

“At present the gathering is not scheduled to be held at a place open to the public.”

Tomorrow’s workshop about the Caroline dump follows the City Council decision several weeks ago to ignore its own staff recommendation regarding the charges.

The gate price at the Caroline dump for Wattle Range Council is set to increase to $190 per tonne and this is 6pc higher than the $179 per tonne increase originally floated by City Council staff.