Council 'dragging feet'on rubbish

Ruapehu Bulletin, 21 December 1993, Page 7

Council 'dragging feet'on rubbish

The council's efforts to date on cleaning up Ruapehu's landfill operations are disappointing, according to councillor Weston Kirton. In response to a report presented to the council last Friday, Mr Kirton said it left behind much of what the councillors' working party (of which he is chairman) on the subject had achieved. Very little had been achieved in the 18

months since the process was started, he said. He said it was disappointing to see that no money had yet been spent on public consultation into the process, but that this was a very important part of it. "We need to get stuck into this problem and not muck around. We need to get people educated about what this (rubbish disposal) problem is, what we are

doing and why we have to do it." Technical services director Bruce Dobson said the working party was funded separately from the resource consent process. He said the public consultation process would start after July 1994, but that they had earlier hoped it might start sooner. "This doesn't mean the working party won't be active.

Mayor Garrick Workman said Mr Kirton's criticisms were "a little unfair". "We are way ahead of some councils, thanks to your working party. The issues have to be addressed - and we are doing that." Chief executive Cliff Houston said it was a huge environmental issue that needed a great deal of council resources, mostly time, to face up to. "In 1989 this was not an issue that could have been foreseen, especially the size of the council's commitment that would be needed." Cr Irene Dempsey asked why the draft landfill management plans were unacceptable. Mr Dobson said the plans were a "flossing up" of what was happening at present at the tips. "But the regional councils are insisting on going deeper - and I mean physically deeper as well as deeper research - into the landfills." He said they had to now find out what was in landfills and what the underlying landforms were. Even if the council chose to close a landfill, they would have to gain a resource consent and prove that there was no leachate problems. "We've got to look at what the effects are and prove what they are."