At last night’s Council meeting Council resolved to not accept any of the four tenders received for the Establishment and Operation of the Tamworth Organics Recycling Facility.

Council decided not to accept any tenders based on the construction cost of the ORF, the ongoing cost to Council of delivering FOGO to the facility, and the increase in Domestic Waste Charges and Gate Fees to fund this work.

Further the original tender called for a third party to operate the facility. Council has decided it will run the facility itself which will increase income for Council from the facility.

The next steps in this process as endorsed by Council last night are:

• Staff to undertake the detailed design of the Facility. Council has access to highly-skilled and experienced staff within its workforce and via contractors that will be able to help deliver the design of this project. Council may be required to seek a modification to the existing development consent if modifications are made during the detailed design phase and those modifications are considered significant.
• Prepare a new tender document for the construction of the Facility based on the detailed design finalised by Council. Going out to tender will allow Council to select the best suited organisation to complete the construction of the Facility.

An update of the cost and timeline for the project will be provided once tenders for the construction of the Facility have been received.