ELMORE residents have lost their tip over a late rental payment that could be as little as $360. Landholder Peter Kortum closed the town’s transfer station after the City of Greater Bendigo council was late with its rental payment. Council pays $30 a week to use the land. Mr Kortum said the council was four and a half months late on rent as part of a deal they pay three months in advance. A council spokesperson acknowledged council was late with its rent payment, but denied it was four and a half months late. The spokesperson did not say how late the payment was, but that it was paid late last year and the new payment was due at the end of January. The closure of the tip has angered locals and is the end result of a battle between Mr Kortum and the council over land encroachment, rent payments and his dog, which council has classed as dangerous. “I still have to pay my rates on this property and they don’t like them to be late,” he said. “If they had have paid on time this wouldn’t have happened. “I made this land available when there was no other and I don’t make a thing from it. It is no longer going to be a gift.” Instead of fighting the action, council has decided to bring forward its plan to extend the town’s municipal collection to the 110 rural properties who depend on the transfer station to get rid of their rubbish. However, that hasn’t pleased locals or local businesses, who will now have to travel the 26-kilometre round trip to the Goornong tip to dump their green waste, trailer waste or commercial waste. Bob Ferrie runs B and D Bodyworks in Elmore’s main street. He said the decision could cost him thousands of dollars. “I don’t think the community will be happy about this. I know I won’t,” he said. “On top of my bin I have a Cleanaway bin and I load my ute up and go to the tip. With the price of fuel, having to go to Goornong is going to cost me. “I may have to get the Cleanaway bin removed more often and that will cost me a couple of thousand dollars a year.” New 140-litre rubbish bins and 240-litre recycling bins will be distributed to the affected properties.
