LGOIMA Requests

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Could you please tell us who wrote each of the 3 consultation documents?

The three documents released for consultation were the Waste Assessment 2022, the draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2022 – 2028 (WMMP), and the Statement of Intent. All three documents were prepared internally by a Project Team of Council Officers, which included technical experts, strategy and policy advisors, and management. Each of the three documents were then approved by Council to be released for consultation with the community.

Could you please give us a detailed outline of the budget for waste management and minimisation. We're interested in the overall budget, and in particular the amount of money committed to waste minimisation.

Please see LGOIMA Attachment 1 – 10 Year Plan 2021-31 budget for the Waste Minimisation cost centre.

Could you give us a detailed breakdown on how the funds from the Waste Management levy have been spent over the 2016 - 22 period. When we met with you Sue had seen a LGOIMA request that showed that the only funding spent was on the education programme by Para Kore. But we are now assuming that information was out of date as it seems this funding has also been spent on other projects. What happens to any unspent levy? Is it carried forward into future years? Can you please tell us what the allocation is for the current year (plus any funds available from previous years, if they are able to be carried forward).

The table below shows the Waste Minimisation Levy that Council received, and what was spent from 2009/10 to 2019/20.

Unspent Waste Minimisation Levy funding is accumulated if it is unspent, and remains with Council. However, regular reporting is required to the Ministry of Environment who expect to see a plan of how Council will utilise these accumulated funds. The final WMMP will therefore contain where the waste levy will be spent on actions for improving Waste Management and Minimisation over the next 6 years.

Please see LGOIMA Attachment 2 – Waste Levy expenditure report – 2009 – 2021 for a detailed breakdown of how the Waste Management Levy has been spent over the 2016 – 2022 period.

We are also wondering why are there no diversion rates recorded in the current draft plan, except the marae involved with the Para kore programme? We think having measurable targets is crucial to making progress, and also to helping the public to engage and to be able to feel they're 'making a difference' through what they do.

The Objectives and Targets included in the draft WMMP are as set out in Council's 10 Year Plan 2021 – 31. The draft WMMP states that Council will review the Objectives and Targets set out below in the next 10 Year Plan in response to the direction set by the WMMP.

At the time of setting revised Objectives and Targets, Council will consider the appropriateness of including a diversion rate as a measure. There are complexities with accurately and realistically calculating a diversion rate measure/target, and increasing data collection as outlined within the action plan within the draft WMMP will assist with this kind of reporting.

We are strongly supportive of the idea of a dedicated role, as mentioned on p.41 (last item) of the Waste Assessment document. Can you give us any information on the thinking and work done so far on this, please. Also can you tell us the reason/s as to why it hasn't been included in the draft WMMP ?

The Waste Assessment 2022 provides a long list of possible actions that could help to address issues highlighted within. As you have raised, one of those possibilities was creation of a dedicated role within Council for Waste Management and Minimisation.

When considering this long list of potential options and forming the Action Plan within the draft WMMP, many different considerations were made including the cost of an additional staff member, the capacity of existing staff members, and the source of funding required for additional FTE. The action was not included within the draft WMMP after these considerations were made - largely due to existing staff capacity within Council to fulfil waste management and minimisation functions.

Can you give us any indication of what got in the way of progress re the farm waste / agri-waste. Is it simply a matter of insufficient resourcing and the fact that there isn't a dedicated role for dealing with this. Can you tell us what 'existing activities' re farm plastics are occurring , or any other existing activities with the farming community.

As outlined within the draft WMMP, the off farm waste disposal initiative from the WMMP 2016 was explored, but further work is required on implementation planning involving the private Agri-Waste industry.

Included in the action plan within the draft WMMP is for Council to partner with private industry on community collection events for farm waste. We look forward to building our relationships with the Agri-waste sector on this action.

Strengthening the partnership between Council and private industry on these events would help to advertise the availability of existing circular farm waste opportunities in the district and allow Council to play a greater role in managing and minimising farm waste. More information on existing farm waste initiatives in the district can be found on page 24 of the Waste Assessment 2022.