Residents upset as Niangala waste station set to close, forcing locals to use Dungowan dumps

Following July 1, they will be required to haul their waste roughly 50 kilometres to the Dungowan waste facility, which they claim is a major inconvenience and will also cost them in terms of fuel.

Residents from nearby Weabonga are also furious they were not notified of the closures, given it is their primary tip as well.

Weabonga local of seven decades, Gary Mahoney, said he believed the move would see a lot of waste dumped on the side of the road.

"The other option is the people from Niangala, they're in Tamworth shire, so they'd have to go to Dungowan," he said.

"Either that, or they've got to go to Walcha, but I don't think Walcha's going to appreciate people from Tamworth coming up and dumping their rubbish in their tip."

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TRC explained the decision to close the facility in a letter sent to residents, in which they stated it was rarely used and unsafe, given it was an unstaffed facility.

It said "annual vehicle movements on site are minimal with less than one per day", and there were "safety and security concerns related to the operation of an unmanned site".

Officially classed as a small vehicle waste transfer station, it was not meant to contain commercial waste, but council said the illegal dumping of it continued to occur, given it was unmanned.

The measure is set to save council a significant amount of money too.

"The closure of both the Niangala and Watsons Creek facilities could provide council with a long term saving of $734,727," the letter said.

Residents will be given the chance to air their grievances this Saturday, with a meeting set to take place with councillors at 10am at Niangala Hall.

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