Waipā District Council has been told by a community board member to practice what it preaches before investing in resource recovery centres in Cambridge and Te Awamutu.
Bryan Hudson
Council transportation manager Bryan Hudson told Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board’s June meeting a section of the surplus Cambridge Wastewater Treatment Plant at Matos Segedin Drive was being subdivided to accommodate a new resource recovery centre.
The centres will be funded by the council’s waste minimisation levy rather than rates, he said, to realise the goals of the districts waste minimisation plan.
“It would be really nice to be on board and practice what we preach, to start practicing some of this,” responded board member Sally Whitaker.
“It’s sort of like the left hand and the right hand aren’t marrying in and it’s not being demonstrated. If we, as a council, are proposing this type of activity from our people and are expecting this behaviour it would be really nice to be demonstrating that.”
Sally Whitaker
Hudson said he fully agreed with Whitaker.
“Our waste management team are always looking for opportunities. We are certainly keen to be reusing as much material as possible.”
Board member Jill Taylor wanted to know how long it would be before the council would open a resource recovery centre in Te Awamutu. Hudson couldn’t say.
“There is work going on to investigate suitable land sites in Te Awamutu for a range of council activities into the future, so there is potential that a Te Awamutu facility could fit onto that site as well,” he said.
Jill Taylor
Whitaker was concerned the council might duplicate work already being done by Waste Management in Daphne Street, Te Awamutu.
Hudson said resource recovery did not have to happen in one location.
“Across the district resource recovery is happening in all of those second-hand stores which are operating, there are community groups who already doing the mahi in this area,” he said.
Board chair Ange Holt wanted to know how much the board could be involved.
Ange Holt
“It is the perfect opportunity for the community board to gather supporters and ideas and make contact with interested community parties who want to be involved,” Hudson said.
Discussions were already underway with the Urban Miners, Lions Club and Extreme Urban Waste, Hudson said. But the council had not talked to Waste Management.
