Ruapehu rubbish concerns all

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 513, 23 November 1993, Page 13

Ruapehu rubbish concerns all

More than 70 responses were received to a recent survey of all households in the Ruapehu region by the Ruapehu District Council concerning the region' s rubbish. A questionnaire sent out in September outlined the council's responsibilities with regards to the recently introduced Resource Management Act, and asked for input from the community

about local landfills and their utilisation. Co-ordinator Tim Mills said the whole idea was initially to guage interest and gather some feedback from the local communities. Mr Mills said he was thrilled with the response to the questionnaire, saying that a similar study recently carried out in a large centre only received 10-15 responses from residents.

Some respondants chose anonymity, while a large number asked to be kept informed with their names entered onto a mailing list to receive regular updates on developments.

Mr Mills said some questionnaires had been returned with "lengthy letters" outlining concerns. The information gathered has been entered into a data base with the results currently being

collated by council officials. Since the introduction of the Resource Management Act the council has to obtain Resource Consents for all waste disposal sites by October 1994.

As part of the consent process the council is also required to consult widely with the community and the tangata whenua on its overall strategy and planning. Mr Mills told the Bulle-

tin that ratepayers of the Ruapehu region should not anticipate an overnight improvement to their present landfills. "Any obvious visual improvements are still a long way off ', he said.