Golden Shears is one of Wairarapa's most significant annual events. Photo / Supplied
Golden Shears is one of Wairarapa's most significant annual events. Photo / Supplied
Organisers of Masterton's world-famous Golden Shears will lobby local councillors to tighten rules on solid waste.
Representatives from the annual shearing competition will call for changes to proposed new bylaws in Carterton on Wednesday afternoon.
Councillors from the three districts will hear from two speakers and receive comments from 16 other Wairarapa residents.
The new rules aim to control the dumping of spam mail, the introduction of waste management plans for new buildings, and waste from large public events.
These included new event waste management planning standards for large outdoor events.
The Shears committee were among a handful of submitters calling for the standards to apply to smaller events.
Their preferred minimum limit was 100, rather than 1000.
Golden Shears is one of Wairarapa's most significant annual events. The event brings a four-figure crowd and more than $2.7 million to the local economy, recent data showed.
Committee member Stephen Siemonek is scheduled to address the panel, chaired by Masterton councillor Frazer Mailman.
Representatives from the annual shearing competition are call for changes to proposed new waste bylaws. Photo / Supplied
Siemonek said lower numbers would "make life easier" when scaling up for significant events in Wairarapa, such as his organisation's annual competition.
"We feel a function of 100 or 200 people would still produce a lot of waste, so that's where we're coming from in terms of lowering that number."
Other submitters to the bylaws consultation process agreed with Golden Shears over finer details in the rules over waste management planning.
Passing the new rules would bring the districts into line with updated national legislation, and their Wellington region neighbours.
Wellington councillors voted unanimously to pass similar rules in the capital late last month.
Mayor Andy Foster said Wellington had "to do better as a community to cut back the amount of stuff we're chucking away – we can't go on building new landfills".
"These new rules will help us all to reduce the amount of waste we generate and then create a 'circular economy' – one where materials can be recovered and reused – rather than thrown into a gully and covered with dirt."
Mailman will chair a working group for the three Wairarapa councils.
The window for comment from Masterton, Carterton, and South Wairarapa residents closed last month.
The bylaws would be enforced from February 2021 once confirmed. Each council would individually regulate and enforce the bylaw within its own district. The hearings committee meets in Carterton at 5pm.
