Council Attempts To ‘Set The Record Straight’ Over $570 Waste Charge

Mornington Peninsula Shire is attempting to contain growing anger over its proposed waste charges after the issue spilled into mainstream metro media, with reports most households with kerbside bins would face a combined annual charge of $570 under the 2026/27 draft budget. The reported figure is made up of a $416 waste collection charge and a $154 public cleaning charge, which would be $137 higher than the shire’s current $433 waste service charge for 2025/26.

In a website notice and matching social media post, council has sought to reassure ratepayers that the public cleaning component is not a new cost in substance, but a clearer breakdown of waste-related services that have long sat inside the broader waste service charge.

Unlike Waste Collection, Public Cleaning Charge Is Not A New Charge

Council says the charge already covers more than household bins

The shire’s own rates FAQ states the current waste service charge is intended to recover the full cost of waste services across the municipality, including all waste collections, disposals, street sweeping, footpath sweeping, street and drain litter collection, public waste clearing from parks, reserves and foreshores, and future landfill rehabilitation works. The same page says the charge is a recovery of all waste costs, not just bin collection and street cleaning immediately outside a property.

That broader explanation is central to council’s defence of the proposed split model. The argument being put to residents is that public cleaning has always formed part of the waste bill, and that the new structure is intended to separate out those costs more clearly rather than introduce an entirely new category of charging.

Earlier review had already flagged a split waste charge

The proposed split did not emerge out of nowhere. In its earlier Rating Strategy Review, the shire outlined indicative current-year figures showing separate charges for household bin collections and public waste and cleaning services. Under that model, most households with bins would move from $433 to $474 a year, while properties without bin collection would fall from $433 to $130.

That means the structure of the change has already been on the table for some time, but the figures now attached to the 2026/27 draft budget are significantly higher than the indicative numbers shown during the rating strategy consultation. That gap is likely to be one of the key reasons the issue has drawn such a strong reaction.

Mainstream attention sharpens pressure on council

The controversy has now moved beyond local discussion, with the reports the proposal would affect about 93,000 households and describing the increase as a major jump at a time of continuing cost-of-living pressure. The report also said properties without kerbside collection would pay only the $154 public cleaning charge.

That leaves council facing a more difficult political problem than a simple communications exercise. Even if the shire is correct that public cleaning has long been embedded in the waste service charge, many ratepayers are likely to focus on the bottom line, and for most households with bins that reported bottom line is substantially higher than the current annual charge.

Waste reform adds wider financial pressure

The proposed changes are also landing as Mornington Peninsula prepares for broader state-mandated waste reform. The shire said on 7 April 2026 that household waste collection will change next year, including standardised red, yellow and green bin lids and the rollout of FOGO bins to households that do not already have them. Council also said the Rye landfill is expected to close within the next 12 months, potentially pushing landfill waste further away and increasing costs.

For council, the issue is being framed as one of transparency, cost recovery and adapting to a changing waste system. For residents, the question is simpler: if the public cleaning component is not truly new, why is the proposed annual bill for most households rising so sharply? That is likely to remain at the centre of the debate as the draft budget process unfolds.

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