NEARBY residents of the newly installed reverse vending machine at Wareena Park say they have been blindsided by its placement.
The machine was brought in by Visy crews last Thursday morning, as the recycling company looks to bolster its presence of the State Government’s Container Deposit Scheme within the rural city.
The automatic reverse vending machine will be available for the community to cash in their eligible drink containers for 10c refunds to complement the current Newman Street Exchange Depot site.
Swan Street resident Karen Adcock said her and her neighbours first heard of its installation after receiving a letter from Rural City of Wangaratta Council on Tuesday, notifying them of plans to install the machine at the car park “across January/February”.
But as the crane dropped the reverse vending machine, the size of your average shipping container, into the rear of the Wareena Park carpark on Swan Street, residents across the road were baffled by what was happening.
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“I thought it was pretty rude, the letter said January/February and two days later its being installed,” Ms Adcock said.
“There’s been no conversation with the people it’s going to directly impact.”
Ms Adcock and another nearby resident made a formal complaint to Rural City of Wangaratta Council after the machine was put in place, saying the “installation by stealth” lacked transparency and raised concerns around its positioning, opening hours and noise disturbance in the area.
The council letter received by nearby residents outlined the reverse vending machine will be open for use from 7am to 8pm seven days a week once operating from early this week.
The letter also outlined the machine would be cleaned on a weekly basis and the initial placement of the machine was subject to a 12-month trial, at the end of which council would determine whether the reverse vending machine could continue to remain at its Swan Street location.
Ms Adcock said while she and many of the nearby residents were supportive of the initiative, the machine had been placed in the wrong spot.
“It concerns me the operating hours are seven days a week from 7am to 8pm which is fine during daylight savings, but what happens in winter when it’s dark and you’ve got car lights flashing into people’s front rooms?” she said.
“It doesn’t really fit in with the scheme of what they have planned for that sight eventually… it’s a bit of an eyesore.
“There’s no designated carparking or traffic flow signals in the entrances and they’re not designed for trailers or trucks.
“It’s a very busy carpark, especially when sports start happening there again, that car park gets full and there’s kids everywhere, I just think it’s wrong.”
Rural City of Wangaratta director of community and infrastructure Marcus Goonan said the Swan Street site was seen as the most appropriate agreed upon area by council and Visy for the machine due to its visibility and open space.
“The community’s right, we haven’t done any consultation on its location,” he said.
“I saw there was some commentary about why not having it at the Barr Reserve or other places, but the main positioning of these things is they need to be accessed easily and also well seen.
“As you can imagine, placing it out the back of the Barr Reserve doesn’t create that ability for people to know where it is and it’s easier for the facility to be managed in that more front facing location.
“We’re certainly interested in what the community thinks of that and that location; we’ve been really clear about the fact this is a trial and it can be moved at any point based on feedback.”
Mr Goonan said the reverse vending machine and its positioning within the area could easily be re-located to complement the current Wareena Park Master Plan if it stays there beyond its trial period.
According to the master plan, the area currently occupied by the reverse vending machine had been marked as a “seniors exercise area”.
Mr Goonan said council would work with the community around how the machine would work at its current location or other locations if moved and encouraged feedback to go directly to council.
“There’s a number of other locations Visy are looking at that are on private property and they’ll continue to work with those private groups to see if they can facilitate some outcomes there,” he said.
“I appreciate we’re going to have to work through what it all looks like and the amount of traffic and rubbish that is there, but I’m really confident we’ll be able to get there.”
Mr Goonan said council had already been in contact with the machine contractors about reducing its proposed opening hours, which they hoped would alleviate some concerns.
Council said residents are encouraged to direct queries via the Rural City of Wangaratta Council website.
Visy were contacted by the Wangaratta Chronicle but declined to comment.
