Stop a ratepayer in the street. Write a post in Facebook. If you want to get maximum response, don’t talk about rates, simply mention either the tip or the emptying of the bins. You will trigger an avalanche of complaints and suggestions.

Even if the original item wasn’t about rubbish, responses will rapidly wander from the original topic to any and all aspects of rubbish.

Why does collection cost so much? Why does using the tip cost so much, or more than other tips? Why can’t bins be emptied more often, say weekly? Why can’t we have an annual collection of big waste, such as furniture, like other councils? Why do I have to go all the way to the tip to recycle or dispose of stuff? Why can’t there be recycling stations across the city? Why can’t we have a “general & green waste free entry weekend” in January like Hobart? Why should I pay so much to go to the tip when I already pay so much in rates?

The lesson for council is that while some will obsess over rates, some will obsess over the sale (or not) of the DEC, everyone at least once a fortnight thinks about stuff and how council helps (or not) in disposing of or recycling it.

Absolutely everyone has rubbish, absolutely everyone needs a way to get rid of it. It is personal.

The Jackston Street Tip will fill up and our rubbish will start to end up somewhere outside Glenorchy (maybe Copping). Council and its ratepayers will need to adjust.

Council must work very hard to clearly explain how things will work after the Jackson Street Tip closes, all the various actions they will take to make it happen, and why. Statements like “We all need to be responsible waste managers – individuals, households, business, and Council” are not enough even if absolutely true – rubbish is personal and gets emotional reactions. Pure logic will not suffice.