THE Shire of Mundaring will be withdrawing its membership from the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) with the Town of Bassendean to be the last participating member from July 1.

The EMRC website said its Red Hill Waste Management Facility operated on behalf of four member councils which were the Shire of Mundaring, City of Swan, Town of Bassendean and City of Bayswater.

“The facility uses modern techniques and principles of landfill design and operation, including leachate collection and methane gas capture,” according to EMRC.

The shire’s announcement suggested both Swan and Bayswater were no longer members of the EMRC.

“With two other member councils also withdrawing, council made its decision based on our future strategic alignment and potential financial exposure,” it said.

Shire chief executive Jason Whiteaker said the decision to withdraw was informed by an assessment of future strategic alignment and potential financial exposure and that sustainable waste management solutions was a priority for the shire.

“In line with the council’s 2017 decision and the state government’s waste avoidance and resource recovery strategy 2030, the shire is transitioning its residual waste to the East Rockingham Waste to Energy (ERWTE) facility,” he said.

Mr Whiteaker said there would be no disruption to shire residents’ waste collection services.

“The shire will have the opportunity to review service contracts to best meet future needs,” he said.

Echo News asked the City of Swan to confirm if it was still a member of the EMRC and if it had withdrawn, what were the reasons behind the decision.

A Swan spokesperson directed Echo News to the EMRC for comment and said the matter was a confidential decision made by council.

At the Swan April 9 council meeting, arrangements with the ERWTE project were discussed behind closed doors.

Though little information has been provided by Swan, the minutes of the meeting show the council voted 11-4 for a motion which included the following:

“The CEO is authorised to finalise the draft deed of novation of the financier side deed between the security trustee, the EMRC, participants and East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility Project,’’ the motion said.

“The mayor and CEO are authorised to sign the final deed of novation under common seal.”

According to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), 330,000 tonnes of residual waste per annum would be processed at the ERWTE facility, which would produce 28.9 megawatts of power.

ARENA said the facility was necessary to address the challenge of delivering sustainable and affordable solutions for both electricity generation and waste management in Australia.

On its website, ARENA said it had contributed $18 million to the project, while the total project cost was estimated to be about $510m.

ERWTE has been contacted for comment.

When Echo News asked the Town of Bassendean if it planned to continue its membership with the EMRC considering the Shire of Mundaring’s decision, a spokesperson said the town was unable to comment.

Echo News asked the EMRC what impact would the shire’s withdrawal have on its operations, what would happen if all member councils withdrew their membership and how much councils were being charged for waste management.