City of Rockingham residents have lost their fight to have general waste bins collected weekly instead of fortnightly.

The city’s three-bin food organics garden organics (FOGO) waste system has been riling up ratepayers since it came in last year, including the decision to collect the red general waste bin fortnightly.

A push to reinstate weekly collections was lost on a tied council vote last year.

Hundreds of residents packed the Gary Holland Community Centre in May calling for the weekly collections to return amid claims they were paying “full price for a half-rate service”.

They packed the public gallery at the council’s June 23 meeting as it voted 6-5 to reject that motion.

A proposal from Cr Mike Crichton that the city hold a survey to gather community feedback on if the red bin service should be weekly or fortnightly was lost 3-8.

He said FOGO was one of the most significant changes to waste management the city had seen and it had received mixed feedback.

He acknowledged the results of the special electors’ meeting but wanted to hear from people who did not attend it.

“I feel I am unable to make an informed decision on this one without really knowing the views of the larger community,” Cr Crichton said.

Mayor Lorna Buchan said the city had already gathered community feedback, including an annual resident survey four months after the rollout of FOGO.

“It showed 70 per cent of residents rate our rubbish and recycling services fairly well or better,” she said.

“This is a strong early result for a major system change that is functioning and aligned with both the State’s strategy on waste and our City of Rockingham community’s stated priorities.

“Our responsibility in local government is not just to solve today’s problems but to steward a future that is financially and environmentally sustainable.”

Cr Kelly Middlecoat said Cr Crichton’s suggestion was “fantastic” but two years too late.

“I don’t want to spend more time and wait another six months for a consultant to tell us something that we may perhaps already know, and it prolongs the uncertainty for our residents,” she said.

She said she had raised concerns about the “practical realities” of a fortnightly collection but reversing the city’s decision would come at a significant cost for all ratepayers.

Cr Leigh Liley said FOGO was a good system that was “possibly inconvenient” for some.

“We have a proportion of those people here tonight, which isn’t possibly representative of all of the opinions out there,” she said.

Cr Mark Jones said he believed the current system was working for most residents.

“I’m sorry for those that it isn’t working for, but we’re trying to use that system,” he said.

“We’ve heard this is coming. The State is going to require this.”

Cr Dawn Jecks said many people had worked hard to adapt to the three-bin system, which she said had already saved the city $850,000 in landfill levies.

“Returning to weekly red bin collections could raise rates by 5 per cent in the first year, and borrowing more money would increase cost on which interest has to be paid,” she said.

In a statement released after the meeting, Ms Buchan said the decision balanced environmental responsibility with cost impacts for ratepayers.

“Council carefully considered the views of the community alongside the financial and environmental implications before making this decision,” she said.

“Maintaining the fortnightly red bin service supports our commitment to reducing landfill and keeping waste costs as low as possible for all ratepayers.”

People with a medical condition that results in additional waste can access an additional 140L general waste bin free of charge. As of July 1, the cost for an additional red bin for households with five people or more will drop to $80.70 per year, or $1.55 per week.