After public consultation on the future of Raglan’s kerbside foodwaste collection, Waikato District Council’s Strategy and Finance Committee has listened to the community and agreed to suspend the service.
60% of the 774 submissions received during the consultation period said they would not be willing to support a targeted rate of $79.29 for the service to continue.
At today’s Strategy and Finance meeting [May 29] Councillors debated the merits of the service at length.
Discussion and debate focused on the need to listen to our community, the leadership required to protect our planet, the impacts of waste on climate change and financial implications on the ratepayers throughout the district.
Councillors were divided on the approach that should be taken, but opted to vote for option two.
This means that the Strategy and Finance Committee are recommending to Council that it should not implement the proposed targeted rate. Raglan kerbside foodwaste collection would therefore be discontinued on 30 June 2019.
The Committee did indicate they looked forward to discussing a possible district-wide kerbside foodwaste collection service in the future as part of the upcoming solid waste review. This review is due to start later this year.
Today’s resolution still needs to be agreed by Council, which is due to take place at next month’s full Council meeting on Monday 10 June.
ENDS
Background for editors:
Since August 2017 Council has partnered with Raglan refuse contractor Xtreme Zero Waste to provide a fully-funded kerbside foodwaste collection in Raglan.
The service was established when Council received funding from the Ministry for the Environment (“MfE”) to go towards the setup of a foodwaste collection service and the infrastructure required to compost the collection. Construction was completed in August 2017 and the collection began shortly after.
The foodwaste collection has been running as a service since late 2017 at no direct cost to the ratepayer, involving around 2,000 households.
For more information please contact:
Teresa Hancock
Communications Advisor
Waikato District Council
027 706 5776
communications@waidc.govt.nz
