Yass Valley Council has decided to bring local weed management services in-house after the agreement with Hilltops Council to provide its services wasn’t meeting requirements.
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In order for council to provide the services instead of an external agency, it will be introducing new fees and charges, ranging between $50-$150.
Residents can view and provide feedback to council on the new fees and charges here until Friday September 17.
Council will also be employing a senior biosecurity weeds officer to manage the services.
Applications for the role close at 5pm on Monday September 3 and can be found here.
How this came about
Council is responsible for local weed management under the Biosecurity Act 2015.
Hilltops Council was providing Yass Valley’s weed management services after the Southern Slopes Noxious Plants Authority dissolved on July 1, 2017.
The agreement with Hilltops Council ended on 30 June 2018, with council saying it wasn’t providing an efficient nor effective service for Yass Valley.
Council’s General manager Sharon Hutch explained the pros and cons of the decision.
“The main advantages of council taking back control of this service are around the increased amount of control that council would have over the weed management activities in Yass Valley,” she said.
“This would include full financial control, with all decisions being made in a way that most benefits the Yass Valley, in line with council priorities.”
Ms Hutch added, “The disadvantages of this option are a large amount of disruption during transition and a lack of continuity for landholders, as this will be the second shift in Local Control Authorities in 12 months, however, we are trying to minimise the impact.”
