CITY of Kalamunda carried a motion to review the community impact of FOGO in the most recent council meeting following back and forth debate in the chamber between councillors.

Councillor David Modolo, who moved the motion, said leaving used nappies, used female hygiene products, or soiled medical consumables in a bin was self-evident of the impact a fortnightly wait time had.

“Frankly, to leave any rubbish in a bin for 14 days is unhygienic, stinks to high heaven and is causing pests like rats and maggots to infest our waste,” he said.

“This motion before you tonight, councillors, is about common sense.

“It’s not calling for a rush to change things tomorrow.

“In supporting the motion, you’re very simply saying, we accept that some people are having a hard time with this system.

“We acknowledge that in a cost-of-living crisis, some people simply cannot afford to pay for an extra bin.

“And finally, perhaps most importantly, we’re asking the city to go away, come up with some options because we hear our residents and as their elected representatives, we’re doing our bit.”

The main arguments against the motion included that it was too soon to conduct a review after the FOGO system had only been rolled out for three weeks.

Councillor Kathy Ritchie spoke against the motion citing the recency of the rollout and said not enough time had been given to residents to adjust to changes.

“FOGO across the whole city of Kalamunda has been in place for just over three weeks,” she said.

“It took two months to roll it out to all households.

“This small amount of time is not sufficient to make a call on how well we are progressing, and three weeks is certainly not sufficient time to warrant a review with its associated costs.

“Other local governments have indicated it takes 12 months for residents to adjust to the changes.

“As councillors we know that if we do not meet the obligations of the better bins funding and if we change to either a weekly bin collection or a 240L bin, the $1 million will need to be refunded to the state government.

“This million-dollar cost would of course need to be passed on to rate payers.

“I urge councillors to vote against the motion that can only create uncertainty across our community and inevitable cost increase if changes are made and bewilderment for those who have been urging councillors to introduce FOGO over the past several years.”

City of Kalamunda Mayor Margaret Thomas spoke against the motion, concerned it might send the wrong message about residents not having to try and adjust to positive change.

“I just think that’s sending the wrong message to our community,” she said.

“So, you’ve got a choice, councillors — you can do what’s popular and just say let’s forget this, we’ll have pick-ups every week, we’ll pay back the money for the grants,’ or you can do what’s right for our city.

“If we move this motion tonight nobody’s going to try, and we all need to try harder.”

Cr Modolo closed the debate by saying the motion didn’t call for drastic immediate change.

“This motion is calling just for a review,” he said.

“And it’s not a review tomorrow, it’s a report in three months’ time, in February.

“I agree with councillor O’Connor that we cannot wait 12 months with the status quo.

“We’re saying consider the whole lot, give us some options, and then we’ll have a think about it.

“I think that’s a pretty fair position for us to consider at this point and as such, I urge everybody to support the motion this evening.”

The motion was eventually carried five to four.

Councillors Giardina, Stallard, Cannon, O’Connor, and Modolo voted for the motion. Councillors O’Donnell, Cooper, Ritchie, and Thomas voted against.