For several years, many of the residents of Collector have felt ignored and marginalised by the Upper Lachlan Shire Council. Despite disproportionate rate-rises the town rarely, if ever, benefits from Council rate-expenditure and was not even mentioned in the latest regional Management Plans. There is no real prospect of the current situation changing in the near-future - with no proportional election process, Collector has little chance of a Council representative "in their corner". Overall it is felt that that Council management of Collector Village and surrounds is generally inadequate. 

Now, the local tip, or “garbage depot", has been slated for closure yet again, this time without public consultation. To date, the only public notification given by Council has been a single "NB" sentence in the Gunning Lions Newsletter. In recent months, Collector residents have been made aware (through word-of-mouth) that the garbage depot has been mismanaged to the point where it is not effectively turning a profit. Therefore, it is deemed by Council to be expendable. However, many residents believe that the garbage depot isn't actually required to be a profit-making enterprise for Council – rather, that this is an essential, rates-funded Council service to the town of Collector. There is a genuine need in Collector for a local garbage depot. For many residents of Collector and surrounds, the Collector Garbage Depot is their only local waste disposal option. Should this closure go ahead, Residents would be forced to travel many kilometers, towing covered trailers of rubbish and effectively wasting their valued weekend time in order to bolster the Upper Lachlan Shire Councils bottom line. This is yet another intolerable inconvenience and expense for the Council-neglected residents of Collector. It's time that Collector residents stood up and protested to give the Upper Lachlan Council a clear message: 

We, the residents of the town and surrounds of Collector, NSW have signed this attached petition in order to protest the Upper Lachlan Shire Council's decision to close the Collector Garbage Depot on Sunday, 27th June 2010. Collector residents NEED a local garbage depot, and demand that Council take notice of the needs and wants of the Collector community. We pay our rates - we want something to show for them. Revise the current plans to keep our garbage depot OPEN - at the very least, in some form. Thank you.