FREE vouchers to dump rubbish at local tips are being sent to Hastings ratepayers and local clean-up campaigners have welcomed the move as a step in the right direction.
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Two of the tip tickets, being sent out with annual rates notices this week, can be used until August 1, 2015.
They are being introduced in place of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's free kerbside hard rubbish collection, the council's director of development and environment Matt Rogers said.
Mr Rogers said the tip tickets could be used to dispose of waste, green waste or household junk materials at any Hastings waste facility or transfer station including those in Port Macquarie, Cairncross, Wauchope, Dunbogan and Comboyne.
Each tip ticket is sufficient for the drop off of general or green waste contained within a passenger van, utility, sedan or a small trailer with no side extensions; one mattress or base; four car/motorcycle tyres; two light truck/4WD tyres or a heavy truck tyre. Any additional waste will incur a fee.
Mat Oliver, who was behind the successful Bago Clean-up, which removed more than 12 tonnes of rubbish from bushland at Wauchope last year, said the tip tickets are "a big step forward, in my eyes, to a cleaner future".
Mr Oliver, who was inspired to hold the Bago Clean-up by all the rubbish he saw dumped on his motorbike rides, believes high tip fees are behind much of the dumping.
The free tip tickets are a good idea and worth a try, although people with big families will still have to pay some tip fees, he said.
"But if we can keep it rolling and make it successful then it'll be great."
The formerly free council kerbside collection service will still be available for a fee of $32.
People who are unable to get to the tip themselves are able to give the tickets to a friend, family member or gardener/handyman to dispose of general or green rubbish for them, the council says.
Council tips will continue to accept a range of materials free of charge, including bulk cardboard, glass bottles and aluminium cans, oil, hazardous materials (up to 20 litres), e-waste and scrap material including whitegoods.
Every ratepayer will receive two tip tickets with their 2014/15 rates notice for using during the 2014/15 financial year.
Mr Rogers has urged people to store them in a safe place because they can't be reissued or replaced.
New tickets will be issued next financial year and this year's tickets won't be valid beyond August 1, 2015.
The tip tickets have been introduced in conjunction with the new domestic waste collection service, commencing on September 1.
