DS Kendall Waste Services is based in Numurkah, within Moira Shire, and has held waste collection and disposal contracts with the council since 1998, but lost out to ASX-listed Cleanaway companies and Geelong-based Western Composting in the latest tender process.
Owner Don Kendall said he had experienced experts working on his tender, who were highly critical of the process, known as the Hume Collaborative Procurement Evaluation process, which included a number of local government areas across northern Victoria, including Strathbogie and City of Greater Shepparton.
“I had two bureaucrats with 65 years’ experience between them out of Melbourne,” Mr Kendall said.
“They did the tender with me and both of them, their exact words were, ‘This is a dog’s breakfast’.”
Mr Kendall said the tender documents included too many uncertainties, such as the winning bidder having to replace bins without knowing how many that would be and quoting for litter bin collections without knowing how many times a week the bins would be collected.
Mr Kendall admitted his quote was most likely higher in cost than Cleanaway’s, but said he had to factor such uncertainties into the price.
He also maintained that by not choosing a local contractor, local businesses would miss out on financial benefits, such as $3 million worth of fuel over the period of the contract, and fundraising opportunities for community groups.
“In all honesty, my price is high and I know it’s high because there were so many variants,” he said.
“Cleanaway won’t set up in this shire. They won’t spend that on fuel (here). Tyres, we build stuff, engineering, auto electric, batteries, oil. It just goes on and on and on.
“There’s another 600 grand worth of wages to people in Moira Shire that I pay.
“Any time we have bin roll-outs, I use footy clubs or local groups. Once a year we put out the organic bags, you know, the organic liners for your kitchen caddie, they’re put out once a year; well, they’re done by the local cricket club. They pick up eight or nine grand between them for doing that, so that’s money every year they appreciate getting.
“So that’s all gone, Cleanaway won’t do any of that stuff. It’s just disheartening to not even have sat down and had a conversation (with the council). Just out of the blue, in a three-hour period, see you later, so to speak.”
Mr Kendall said there was a warning for Greater Shepparton ratepayers in the Moira Shire decision if local company Foott Waste was overlooked for Cleanaway.
“These multinationals, they won’t see a cent raised by any vehicle sales in the area. None of that happens. That’s what drives me nuts,” he said.
“I believe Pete (Foott), dollar-wise, he’ll be close to Cleanaway, there can’t be that much in it and if there is, it will be returned to the community probably four-fold.
“If he (Peter) was doing Shepparton, probably in the next eight to nine years he would probably be buying 30 trucks in Shepparton, at least, at least. Cleanaway will never buy a vehicle in Shepparton. Not one.”
Speaking during the council meeting on Wednesday, April 26 when Administrator John Tanner adopted the recommendation, acting director sustainable communities Janet Martin said the overall impacts on the local economy and community had been taken into account during the procurement process.
“We are aware there are impacts on local providers,” Ms Martin said.
“It’s really important that we stress that we have a whole range of statutory and other obligations in terms of our commitment to ongoing recycling, to looking at a circular economy, so there were a range of factors that we needed to take into account.
“The implications in terms of our broader and local economy have been taken into account and we’re really keen to ensure that all of our community members are cognisant of, and aware of, our very far-reaching decision-making process that went into this.”
In a letter to the editor of the News, Cleanaway general manager — solid waste services Victoria Preet Brar said the company worked with communities where it had contracts beyond its simple contractual arrangements.
“Cleanaway sees its role as working in partnership with the community to ensure our contribution is more than just as an essential service provider,” she said.
“We are actively involved in supporting local communities. For us, support means having a real presence that makes a real difference.”
