Council waives waste fees for bush fire affected communities

In an effort to provide assistance to residents who have suffered damage to their property as a result of the recent bush fires, Cessnock City Council has waived the fees to dispose of bush fire generated waste.  

Residents in the bush fire affected suburbs of North Rothbury, Greta, Pelaw Main, Buchanan, Bucketty, Wollombi, Laguna, Paynes Crossing, Sweetmans Crossing, Congewai and Millfield are encouraged to bring their bush fire generated waste to the Cessnock Waste Management Centre by 31 January 2020.  

Council advises that only those who have been directly impacted by the fires will be able to have their waste fees waived and asks that other members of the community respect this offering. Residents will also be required to provide proof of address that matches one of the suburbs listed above.  

If the waste is being delivered to the Cessnock Waste Management Centre by a contractor, the resident will need to contact Council beforehand to make arrangements for the drop-off. This can be done by contacting Council’s Customer Service Team on 4993 4100 or by emailing [email protected].  

Cessnock City Mayor, Councillor Bob Pynsent said he was pleased Council agreed on this decision unanimously at Wednesday night’s meeting.   “I hope this decision helps to ease the burden of the clean-up after this horrible bush fire event.”  

“While fires in the area have been downgraded to advice level, we still urge residents to be vigilant and have a plan in place in the case of another fire event,” added Cr Pynsent.

 12/18/2019