WITH two Opotiki District Council meetings cancelled this week, the expected start of the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan consultation process has been delayed.
An official consultation process for the plan was set to start today with an intended closure on
May 18.
But because both the original meeting on Monday and the re-scheduled meeting on Wednesday had to be cancelled, the consultation process has not started as planned.
During an October 11 to 31 feedback period last year, respondents reported their dislikes, suggestions and other comments on the way Opotiki deals with rubbish.
The most common complaint about the rubbish situation was that council rubbish bags were too small.
Other complaints included fly tipping and broken glass in parks and reserves, animals getting into the plastic bags and “town being messy” on rubbish days.
The “cost of recycling at the resource centre being too expensive” and the lack of rubbish bins at beaches and reserves were also cause for discontent.
Rubbish produced and left by freedom campers came under fire as did the fact the Opotiki recycling centre was not open all days.
Suggestions for preventing rubbish polluting the environment included putting bins at parks and reserves.
Increased street cleaning and rubbish pick-up were also suggested by several respondents.
Higher fines, cameras and signs, were suggestions for combating fly tipping.
When it came to rubbish-related requests, wheelie bins replacing the plastic bags was an oft-repeated suggestion.
One respondent said the council should do its part and replace plastic bags with wheelie bins.
“Plastic bags are so wasteful, and as the world becomes more aware of the immense damage plastic bags do to the environment, I would like to see the council do its part.”
Another stated education on the dangers of burning plastic was needed.
“It appears that a lot of people are not aware that this is a very toxic process and should be avoided.”
ODC meeting cancellations
OPOTIKI District Council finance and corporate services group manager Bevan Gray said the Monday meeting was postponed until Wednesday to allow time for auditors to provide their opinion on the long-term plan consultation document.
“We cannot legislatively adopt anything for consultation without the opinion,” he said.
“Unfortunately, due to timing and other workloads they were unable to meet our reporting timeframes and we cancelled the Wednesday meeting.”
Mr Gray said the council was hopeful it would be only a matter of days before the auditor opinion would come in.
“That will then allow us to hold an extraordinary council meeting to start the consultation period on the long-term plan,” he said.
“We will notify that meeting date as soon as we can.”