The Snowy Monaro Regional Council (SMRC) has been thrust into urgent action following revelations that the Jindabyne landfill has reached capacity. This pressing issue was a central focus during the council’s meeting on March 20, 2025, which saw councillors and officials grappling with both short-term and long-term responses as a part of a motion following the Mayoral minute.
Mayor Chris Hanna underscored the critical nature of the situation: “This motion is allowing the CEO to continue work for our community in Jindabyne to make sure that landfill does not close… I wish we knew earlier… but unfortunately, we didn’t.” He further commended the efforts of the council’s staff in managing the situation under time constraints.
The landfill’s approach to capacity had been anticipated, and now poses an urgent operational challenge. As Councillor Thaler observed, the development was “not a surprise,” reportedly having been forewarned six months ago. The council, however, now finds itself in the position of urgently needing to act to ensure that waste services in the region continue without disruption.
PHOTO: Jindabyne landfill has reached capacity.
The motion also seeks urgent engagement with Member for Monaro, Steve Whan, in relation to discussions for long-term resolutions inclusive of financial commitments from government, however the exact phrasing of the motion in whole is not yet publicly known, due to the awaited approval of the Mayoral minutes, as confirmed by SMRC in a response to Snowy Mountains News, today, Tuesday, March 25.
As a part of the short term solutions debated, Council will need to transport waste to Cooma from Jindabyne, with an amendment passed early in debate to allocate $500,000 rather than $150,000 to manage the crisis.
PHOTO: Jindabyne landfill will have new limits on waste as of March 28.
SMRC Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Dunshea said in regard to whether Council staff had the capacity to cover the additional work, “We did discuss this in in quite some detail, and it’s my understanding that there’s three trips a day to Jindabyne. Two will do that load to Jindabyne, where that will then be transferred by operators to a to a skip or transportation. The third trip comes to Cooma anyway, over overnight, so that third trip is not an additional trip.”
PHOTO: Council’s CEO Stephen Dunshea advised the additional waste travelling to Cooma will not equate to additional trips CREDITS: SMRC
Councillor Davis highlighted the urgency of passing the motion, stating, “This is an immediate interim solution for our current situation… It has become a critical issue, but it’s not a crisis.” Meanwhile, Councillor Stewart emphasised the need for government backing given council’s lack of funds, asserting, “We’ve got to make sure that the state and federal governments come on board to fund the long term solution.”
SMRC’s media release, dated March 18, outlined the immediate changes necessitated by the landfill’s capacity limits. These include a 1m³ load limit for commercial waste starting Friday March 28, impacting only waste-to-landfill and recycling but excluding materials like scrap metal and green waste.
This measure aims to mitigate the strain on the existing infrastructure while the long-term solution of funding the Resource Recovery Centre is explored. The coming changes could mean extra travel to Cooma for commercial operators above the limit. The motion passed with just Councillor Thaler voting against it despite some councillors having described themselves as being “embarrassed” by the unfolding situation.
No future planning.done these so called leaders need to resigne we need better then this