Petition to keep Waikanae Recycling Centre open presented to council

Protesters outside Kāpiti Coast District Council headquarters in Paraparaumu. Photo / David Haxton

Almost 10 per cent of Waikanae's population have signed a petition to keep the Waikanae Recycling Centre open.

While the Waikanae greenwaste drop-off site will remain open, the recycling centre on Park Ave was closed yesterday, August 1, after council voted to close it as part of the Long-Term Plan (LTP).

Presenting the petition at a council meeting on Thursday, Michelle Lewis who started the petition asked the Kāpiti Coast District Council to keep the facility open on August 1 and beyond, while working with the Waikanae community to agree upon a long-term solution to a recycling facility in Waikanae.

Waikanae residents presenting a petition to the Kāpiti Coast District Council asking to keep the Waikanae Recycling Centre open. Photo / Rosalie Willis

"Providing local facilities within each area of the district is the most effective way to reduce, reuse and recycle waste," she said.

"Further we support the view that the community has not been effectively consulted on the proposal to shut the facility and that the survey on which decisions have been made is statistically unreliable."

Only 87 people were surveyed, representing just 1.4 per cent of Waikanae households, with Michelle believing the sample size was not big enough.

She said the proposal was buried in the big LTP document in a way that the community were not likely to engage with.

Michelle also talked to the Climate Emergency Action Framework which says council will 'take opportunities to lead, facilitate and empower iwi-led and other community-led projects and initiatives that aim to build sustainability, resilience and green innovation'.

"There are more options to keep the Waikanae facility open than funding the existing operator to keep doing the same, a community-led project is just one alternative."

Save Our Recycling Targets (SORT) group chairwoman Marie O'Sullivan said the consultation process for closing the facility was not adequate and "there should have been more discussion".

Marie also said the decision to close the centre was inconsistent with the council's policy on sustainable waste management, the climate emergency action framework and the Long-Term Plan.

"The most efficient way to recycle is through a dedicated facility where the waste is sorted onsite.

"Our view is that it is short-sighted of council to close this facility.

"It does not honour the council's commitment to climate change and it has ignored the wishes of the community."

Mayor K Gurunathan acknowledged the petition and gave a request that council staff deliver a report looking at the issues presented, at the recycling services district wide with an emphasis on rural and rural residential zones.

However, councillor Jackie Elliot was denied a resolution which asked the council to request staff prepare a report back on future funding options and an alternative site for the Waikanae recycling facility and that the facility remain open and operational until further decision of the council.

A group of people held a protest outside council headquarters in Paraparaumu on Friday, however the centre is now closed.