Wheelie bins may cost extra $100
Stomping all over our environment
Christchurch City councillors are considering a $100 user charge as a way to lessen the impact of the new system on rates.
The average rate rise this year is forecast at about 8 per cent, and the removal of the extra collection costs would cut about 2% to 3% from that.
The idea has emerged as councillors debate new rates rises for the draft annual plan, set to be signed off for consideration by councillors on March 5.
Cr Chrissie Williams opposes a $100 charge and wants the new waste system to be funded through general rates rises.
%26quot;I feel absolutely strongly that the funding has to come from rates. I think it is quite hard to justify why waste collection is treated differently to anything else,%26quot; she said.
%26quot;Fundamentally, we should minimise any flat charges because of the impact on people on lower incomes … There has been quite a lot of discussion with councillors and so it is a moveable feast.%26quot;
The new kerbside collection system, set to be introduced in February next year, is designed to minimise domestic waste going to the regional landfill.
Wheelie bins are proposed to be provided for organic and recyclables, such as plastic. Councillors are close to choosing between another bin for general household rubbish or the current black rubbish bags.
A third bin will cost the council more because bags are partly paid for by users.
Cr Bob Shearing was keen to stress no decision had yet been made on the rubbish system and how it would be funded.
%26quot;It is still way up in the air. There has been no decision as to what the costs are and how they will be passed on,%26quot; he said.
Australian company Transpacific Industries Group is the preferred company to take the multimillion-dollar contract for kerbside collection and is understood to prefer the three wheelie-bin system.
The Independent Bin Operators%26#39; Collective, which represents 30 businesses in Christchurch, fears the three-bin system would lead to the loss of 70 jobs overnight.
Sebastian Stapleton, the collective%26#39;s head and the general manager of waste company Mastagard, said the collective would take legal action to stop a three wheelie-bin system if councillors backed that option.
%26quot;I think it is a huge and unnecessary extra cost that will generate more waste,%26quot; he said.
The Timaru District Council has levied flat charges for various services for some time. However, when it introduced a three-bin scheme in July 2006, the fixed charge for waste collection rose from $103 to $249.
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker would not confirm whether the $100 charge was an option being considered, saying it was %26quot;pure speculation%26quot;, and that discussions were in-committee.
%26quot;It%26#39;s an important issue for our city and it would be a shame if it became an issue debated around the place with a lack of real information.%26quot;
Parker said he supported the three-bin system and surveys showed a vast majority of residents did.
%26quot;The challenge is to find the most appropriate and cost-effective way to rate for that.%26quot;
Parker said the projected rate rise in the council%26#39;s long-term community plan for the next financial year was more than 9 per cent, but councillors had a goal to do significantly better and were on track to achieve that.
The president of the Combined Residents Association, Ralph Ross, said households were already under pressure with rising food, fuel and electricity prices.
A flat charge for rubbish collection would have the biggest impact on the most vulnerable, and might be %26quot;the straw that breaks the camel%26#39;s back%26quot;.
However, he said the three-bin system had advantages, particularly for organic waste disposal. Bags also tended to split, littering streets.
CHCH RUBBISH
The Christchurch City Council is close to deciding on a new kerbside collection system for next year. The options are:
Two wheelie bins plus rubbish bags.
Three bins (one each for organics, recyclables, general rubbish).
One option for covering the extra cost of three bins is a $100 yearly charge on households.
The aim of the new system is to cut the amount of waste to the Kate Valley landfill.
Half of all the waste taken there is potentially recyclable or able to be composted.
