Buller District Council makes a call on Zone One rubbish collection
At yesterday's council meeting, Buller District Council decided how rubbish will be collected and paid for in Zone One from 1 July 2025 onwards.
Councillors signed off on a fortnightly rubbish wheelie bin collection in Zone One, funded through a Pay as You Thow model. This was one of four options the community could provide feedback on during the recently held Zone One rubbish collection consultation.
This decision marks the end of extensive community engagement, which involved two rounds of consultation between August 2023 and May 2024. During the most recent consultation, 57% of the 150 submitters indicated their preference to continue with a Pay as You Throw approach to funding the rubbish collection service.
With the direction set, from 1 July 2025, all ratepayers living in Zone One – except those on roads where the service is not provided – will be supplied with a 120-litre wheelie bin. The collection service will be fortnightly and there will be a charge made if a bin is picked up. The exact method of payment (tags, tokens or RFiD) will be worked out with the contractor through the tender and will be well publicised before the service goes live next year.
Manager Infrastructure Delivery Eric de Boer says: “It has been a long process, and council has engaged with the community along each part of the journey. Going through two stages of community consultation enabled us to refine our approach and really listen to what is important to the community while keeping an eye on the big picture, our obligations and trends in the waste management sector.
What we have arrived at is a model that will deliver waste management across our largest refuse and recycling zone.”
Council staff will now prepare a procurement and open tender process to obtain cost proposals from waste management companies New Zealand-wide. From the pool of tendering companies, a preferred provider will be chosen to collect the rubbish in Zone One from 1 July 2025 onwards.
Staff expect to go out with the open tender in August 2024. Once market tested prices have been obtained, these will be reported back to council for final approval before the contract can be awarded towards the end of the year.
The open tender will also include the recycling collection in Zone One and operating the Westport and Reefton Transfer Stations.
Mr de Boer says: “We will keep the community up to date during the process. Some stages of the tender process will require time, and we might not have a lot to share at least initially. There are parts of the tender process that are commercially sensitive and require us to be selective with what we can publicise.”
Residents can keep up to date through council’s website, Facebook page, or local media.
-ENDS-
For further information please contact:
Community Engagement Team
Buller District Council
Media.Enquiries@bdc.govt.nz