Council stops Raglan foodwaste collection on 30 June

Waikato District Council news

Raglan foodwaste trial to be suspended

After public consultation on the future of Raglan’s kerbside foodwaste collection, Waikato District Council’s Strategy and Finance Committee says it 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.

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.

At a meeting of the Strategy and Finance meeting on 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.

Happier times for the foodwaste collection when it started in 2017: Xtreme Zero Waste Relationship Manager Rick Thorpe, left, with Raglan Community Board Chairman Bob McLeod holding a kitchen caddy. Xtreme Zero Waste Operations Manager Cain Brodie is behind a kerbside foodwaste bin held by Raglan Ward Councillor Lisa Thomson. Image supplied

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.

 

 

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