Never before did our green bin smell so offensive, now that we add all sorts of organic waste compared to when it was just green waste/prunings, with blow flys having a field day attracted by the smell.

Now, I have to wash out thoroughly every couple of weeks to maintain a less offensive environment.

I think Albury Council should provide adequate-sized compostable bags to be able to seal all organic rubbish, not just the small kitchen bag, that is nearly as useless as the proverbial on a bull.

What sort of third-world country are they unknowingly creating with the potential of more air-borne diseases. Maybe the health department should look into this, but in the meantime, I will make enquiries to buy my own compostable bags.

I note with interest Mike Eden’s Letter to the Editor on Saturday November 19 in which he encouraged “all Howlong residents to contact Cleanaway and get all the facts to make an informed decision”.

Mr Eden also stated that there had been no decision made on establishing a compost facility at Howlong and only an agreement to lease the land has been made to date. Any discussion about a development application is quite misleading because its value of more than $5 million will automatically refer it to the Joint Regional Planning Panel.

This action will lock the Howlong community into an expensive and protracted process that will eventually lead to the NSW Land and Environment Court.

The Administrator had the opportunity last week to defer this matter to the incoming Federation Council in 2017. This would have restored the consultation process to the Howlong community, which was also denied by the former Corowa Council in relation to the matter, due to its premature dismissal by the state government.

The Administrator chose instead to formalise a Heads of Agreement with Cleanaway. He took this action a few days after the only meeting he has held with the Community Committee who had implored him not to ratify the process and to use the upcoming period in the lead-up to Council elections to restore a consultation process to the Howlong community.

I might add that since the first meeting with the Administrator he has refused a number of requests for a further meeting with the Committee to explain his actions. I am totally baffled by the actions of Mr Eden in this matter and particularly cannot fathom why he ranks four jobs more highly than the desires of an entire community in support of such a poorly thought-out initiative.

At the first public meeting the Cleanaway representatives made it quite clear that the four jobs had already been earmarked from within the existing Cleanaway workforce.

Mr Eden knows full well that Cleanaway intend to replicate in Howlong what would have been constructed in Gerogery had the Land and Environment Court allowed it.

Mr Eden’s actions have locked in Cleanaway’s case and set up conditions for him to transfer responsibility for any outcomes to the Joint Regional Planning Panel. With the exception of his Letter to the Editor and one town meeting where he faced ferocious objection from Howlong residents, Mr Eden has done absolutely nothing to consult on the matter and instead is acting unilaterally in his decision making irrespective of the community’s wishes.

And why would any right-minded Howlong resident seek information, as urged by Mr Eden, from a company with a financial interest in the success of this proposal? I would rather seek out information from independent sources and preferably from a Council that is on the community’s side.