Residents in Whanganui rural lifestyle zone not keen on kerbside recycling service

Bill Simmons says he wants his area's rural character kept intact. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui’s kerbside recycling service is almost here, but a group of residents on the city’s outskirts do not want anything to do with it.

Dickens Lane resident Bill Simmons said properties on his street, along with those on Pickwick Rd, were in a rural lifestyle zone and outside the area required to have the service.

Last year, the Government announced kerbside recycling collection needed to be available to all urban households by 2027.

Simmons has presented a petition signed by 39 residents to the council, requesting the service not be introduced in their zone.

It cites a lack of prior consultation, an increased risk to traffic and pedestrian safety in an area with narrow roads, no footpaths and no street lighting and the fact residents already managed their recycling via the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre.

“The only council resource we use is the water supply. Even then, it’s only back-up water because most of us have tank water,” Simmons said.

“We don’t have [council] sewerage and we don’t even have kerbs. That’s the way we like it.”

He said “plastic bottles, bags and who knows what” could blow around, and that posed a danger to livestock.

Whanganui District Council’s kerbside service, run by Low Cost Bins, will begin on July 1.

A targeted rate will be in place for those in the service area, costing around $2.75 a week per household.

Council chief executive David Langford confirmed the service was planned to go into Simmons’ area.

“My understanding is Bill has made a submission to the Long-Term Plan saying he doesn’t agree with it,” Langford said.

“I’m aware of his concern and we have a meeting lined up to discuss it.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to find a way forward that works for everybody.”

In February, Langford said the service would be urban but there was nothing to stop it expanding in the future.

Residents with access to it could not opt out, he said.

“We want as many people as possible to use the service because that means waste will get recycled instead of going to landfill.”

The council’s Long-Term Plan consultation document said residential properties in the wider urban areas of Whanganui would “soon enjoy a more convenient system of recycling”.

“The kerbside recycling service will initially be provided to residential properties in the wider urban areas of Whanganui, as well as some of our larger rural settlements, including Mowhanau, Fordell and Marybank.

“[The] council intends to widen the service to other rural properties over the next few years, where we can.”

Consultation ran from April 2 to May 2.

Simmons said other residents in his area had not submitted on recycling because they thought the service would not affect them.

“I think the council has trouble demarcating the different expectations of people living in the urban and rural lifestyle zones,” he said.

“We want to be treated as rural and we don’t want services other than water, so why the hell have they put this urban service here?”

He said he wanted the character of the area left intact.

“The bottom line is [the kerbside service] is unnecessary and it’s going to have adverse effects on our amenity and our lifestyle.”

Public hearings on Whanganui’s Long-Term Plan will be held in the council chamber from May 14-16.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.