Gore looks at two-bin system for rubbish

Gore and Mataura residents will get an extra $161.05 dumped on to their rates if the Gore District Council goes ahead with changes to the way the town's rubbish is collected.

However, chief executive Steve Parry said yesterday the proposed two-bin system could end up costing some residents less than their existing service.

The council will next week enter the waste disposal debate that has polarised Invercargill city councillors and residents.

However, it plans to take a different tack to its city counterparts, undertaking a month of public consultation, and using online consultation for the first time.

A website has been developed with all the information, a calculator to allow residents to work out their existing costs and compare it to the proposed system, and a way to vote for whether residents want a recycling service.

The council would make presentations to community organisations, such as Grey Power, and might set up static displays outside the town's supermarkets, Mr Parry said.

The council's preferred system would be offered only in Gore and Mataura.

It would mean the introduction of a 240-litre bin with a red lid for waste going to the landfill and a 240-litre bin with a yellow lid for recyclable material.

In a report, Mr Parry says that at first glance the $161.05 annual cost might seem high. However, residents' total costs for waste disposal, including payments to parties other than the council, needed to be taken into consideration.

Under four scenarios presented in Mr Parry's report, the hardest hit would be the elderly or single person who presently used the council-approved rubbish bags once a fortnight.

By deducting the $62.40 annual cost for rubbish bags, which would no longer be necessary, the net increase would be $98.65.

At the other end of the scale, a family of four using two rubbish bags a week, which equated to $249.60 a year, would save $88.55 on their annual waste disposal costs.

The new service would impact only on residential rates in Gore and Mataura, pushing them up by 13.05 per cent overall, the report says.

Submissions on the proposal close on March 12.

The website waste.goredc.govt. nz should be online after Tuesday's extraordinary meeting.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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