Whanganui District Council not planning to apply targeted rates to rural rubbish collection

Low Cost Bins has a $45,000-a-year contract to take away illegal waste from three drop-off sites, including one at Brunswick Rd. Photo / Bevan Conley

Rural rubbish collection costs Whanganui District Council $175,000 a year, but a user-pays approach is not on the horizon.

Council project manager Claire Williamson told councillors if that system was used in rural areas, it was likely to cost $852 a year per property.

In urban areas, a weekly collection of 120-litre bins through Low Cost Bins and EnviroWaste, and 140-litre bins through Waste Management, cost user-pays customers less than half of that.

When bare land was removed from the equation, it would be well over $1000 for rural properties, Williamson said.

The council’s rural collection contract covers around 236 SUIPs (separately used or inhabited parts of a rating unit) over 13 rural sites.

Williamson said the council stepped in because the market would not provide a service to those locations.

“It’s just too far and not economic for them to do so.”

The sites were publicly accessible, so anyone could use them - “not just the people in those particular areas”, she said.

“Obviously, it contributes to the cleanliness of the district and our environmental protection.

“There are also a significant number of visitors to the [Whanganui] River Road.”

The road has seven rubbish collection sites along it, with six others in outer rural locations.

Williamson said a completely new rating system for those rural properties would need to be established.

Properties with people living on them would need to be identified, and there would be ongoing administration.

“Our recommendation is to continue to general rate-fund the activity.”

That recommendation also applied to peri-urban rubbish sites - those between urban and rural areas.

Low Cost Bins services most of those areas on a user-pays system, along with drop-off sites at Brunswick Rd, Kaimatira Rd and Kaiwhaiki Rd. It has a $45,000 annual contract to take away any illegal waste and unstickered bags from those three sites.

Williamson said the council believed a good portion of the illegal waste came from urban areas.

Councillor Rob Vinsen said a “public good factor” could be taken into account for a targeted rural rate, and that would lower the cost of collection down to what those in urban areas paid.

Meanwhile, kerbside recycling is set to begin in the district on July 1 next year.

Williamson said a targeted rate for all residential properties in serviced areas would be used to fund the service, and that would kick in at the same time.

“Non-residential properties in those areas will also be able to opt in if they wish to.

“We will consult on that rate through our Long Term Plan.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.