Residents have been left unhappy in recent years after visitors left the town in a mess following events.

Funds for the council to clean up are allocated out of rates paid by commercial properties, which are the ones that benefit from visitors to the region.

But Alpine mayor Ron Janas said the council could bill events for excess mess.

“If we find that an event goes well above what we had allocated for that purpose then an account will be sent to that group,” he said at this week’s council meeting.

“What we are trying to do is rein in some of that cost and we’re making the users of the events more accountable for some of these things.”

Resident Tony Unsworth questioned why ratepayer funds from across the shire were being used for Bright events.

“As a pensioner, I’m having to contribute to waste management that’s not generated by myself or the community,” he said.

“People in Myrtleford and Mount Beauty don’t even get the opportunity to dump waste in the bins here because they’re generally not here.”

Cr Janas stood by the support for events because of the benefits they have for businesses and employment.

The council also formally abandoned plans to change its planning scheme, which would have aimed to make it harder for people to obtain licences to extract groundwater from their properties.

It had been part of a joint initiative with Indigo and Towong councils, as a stance against water mining.

A failed court challenge by a group from Stanley, which cost them $90,000 in legal costs, showed Alpine Council would have put itself at legal risk if it proceeded.

Cr Kitty Knappstein said she still wanted to lobby the Victorian government to change its legislation.

“I’m really sad about this, it sticks in my craw,” she said.

“It just seems to me a contradiction that we can’t stop this.”