2015-06-23 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                    23 JUNE 2015


The Waste Management Business Unit operates primarily through contracts with external service
providers. It is arguably the most visible customer interface with the public of all council services,
collecting waste from nearly every property within the Noosa Shire, either weekly or more
frequently. Given this public interface, excellent customer service and highly reactive response
times are a critical aspect of waste management.

The customer service request categories for Waste Management are detailed below:
 Charges                                      Holding Tanks
 Contractor                                   Landfill/Transfer Station
 Damaged/Missed bin                           Littering <200Litres
 Dog bags                                     Service – Extra
 Dumping – Garden Waste                       Service – Missed
 Dumping >200Litres                           Service – Modify
 Hazard/Contamination                         Service – New


Process

When a request is received the request type determines the action taken:
 Damaged/missed bins are marked completed immediately they are sent to the contractor as
   mentioned below;
 Requests about services are immediately referred to the appropriate contractor and marked
   as actioned when the contractor informs Council of the action taken, (i.e. Waste and Holding
   Tanks requests). Where necessary, charges are invoices through rates for changes to
   service levels and the request is marked completed;
 Dumping and littering complaints are actioned by the Waste Collection Officer who
   endeavours to locate the offender if sufficient evidence exists; the offender removes the
   waste and receives an infringement notice. If no offender is traced the waste is removed and
   if considered necessary surveillance equipment installed for future offences. This can
   sometimes result in increased time to action requests while investigations are being
   conducted;
 Complaints about charges and Council’s contractors can be complex and require
   investigation, particularly where charges are in dispute. These often require the manager to
   intervene;
 Hazardous waste/contamination and asbestos related requests are actioned immediately by
   the appropriate waste staff member as the issues may be serious; and
 Dog bag requests often relate to no bags left in the dispenser and Local Laws patrol officers
   are informed of these requests and respond to these quickly. More complex requests eg for
   an additional dispenser, will take longer to respond to as an assessment on need and usage
   by residents needs to be undertaken.

The following Table 2 details the number of service requests by service type received and
completed during the months of January to March 2015.




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