A report by Horsham council senior project engineer Jared Hammond recommended awarding the contract to Teneo and that council chief executive Peter Brown be authorised to approve the final negotiations on the contract within the tendered amount.

Horsham councillors backed the motion on Monday night.

Horsham Mayor Pam Clarke said that providing landfill services was one of the most important things that council did.

“It’s a huge expense to this council,” she said.

“A huge amount goes to the Environmental Protection Authority in fees and charges.

“In the last State Budget, some of that money was being siphoned off for other things, which was very disappointing as with everything we pay, we basically don’t get anything back.” 

Mr Hammond’s report noted that six firms had bid for the work, including McClure Earthmoving Harrow and Millers Civil Contractors Pty Ltd, Horsham.

“While scoring lower than other companies for ‘local content’, Teneo has indicated within their construction methodology that they will be using local contractors and facilities for various aspects of the project, however this was not as clearly outlined as other tender submissions,” the report stated.

“The Dooen Landfill site has been operating as a landfill since the early 1980s, and currently services not only Horsham Rural City Council, but also Yarriambiack, Hindmarsh, and West Wimmera Shire councils.

“About 20,000 tonnes of waste is deposited annually. The currently active putrescible waste cell, Cell 1, at Dooen Landfill is slightly above its intended final capacity, and hence there is a need for construction of a further cell.”

Cr David Grimble said it was good to see a range of companies bid for the work.

“It’s important we get along with this construction as we know, we have been overfilling cell 1 and will have to put the overburden out of cell 1 and into cell 2,” he said.

Councillor Mark Radford said the expense and effort of building new landfill cells highlighted the need to reduce the amount of rubbish produced within the council area.

“This is more than just digging a big hole,” he said.

“Then Environmental Protection Authority requires us to do a lot of things, in my view a little too much.

“We have really got to ask the question: how to do reduce the amount of rubbish that goes into the tip? We have put our hand up for a million dollars to be spent just like that.”

The total 2016-17 budget allocation for the landfill cell project was $1.575m, out of which Horsham council has already spent $86,162 on design and review by consultants and $86,148 on pre-contract cell preparation works.