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Greymouth local government meeting

10 October 2005

National Environmental Standards

Air quality

  • There is much interest in the recent amendment to the Standard.
  • There are problems with resourcing as there is a very limited budget and equipment needs fixing.
  • A coal-fired boiler in Reefton is running cleaner now.
  • We need planning – eg education if there is a bad winter next year with ‘Healthy Inangahua’ community group.
  • A possible Sustainable Management Fund project could be developed to improve home heating

Contaminated land

  • Contaminated land is not a major issue as there are no sheep dip issues etc.
  • There are some small sites for tar storage, landfills and underground fuel tanks that have been through HAIL assessment.
  • 400 sites – all notified owners so ahead of the game.

Drinking water

  • The Drinking Water National Environmental Standards appear to be a positive approach.
  • Councils will have more work monitoring because catchments are huge and are being developed.
  • In Australia water supply catchments are protected so you can’t go there. People are amazed that New Zealand is not the same.
  • Not every area will get Aa water supply (e.g. Harihari).
  • Having dedicated reservoirs and leaving them is a good approach.
  • Regarding the Drinking Water National Environmental Standards, the council will need to assess whether it has the information to review the effects of non-consent activities.

Waste

Tourism and waste

  • How can we make tourists pay a fair share of waste infrastructure? If tourists do not pay why should residents pay?
  • What happened to tourism landfill levy? Was it rejected? This levy would affect local residents anyway (i.e. similar issue to public toilets).
  • Waste has been towed out of Fox Glacier as the landfill is closed now.
  • The contractor just doubled their charges.
  • We need resources and support for areas that have low populations but high tourist numbers.
  • We need local solutions as trucking the waste out is not a good solution.

Product stewardship

  • What is happening with baleage wrap? Some farmers have gone back to using silage pits. There can be leachate issues with silage. There is a kind of baleage wrap that you can use 25% less of but it costs 25% more. Baleage wrap is a big waste issue for farmers and they do not like burying it. Federated Farmers could get involved with baleage issues. Farmers need advice on how to manage wrap waste from their bales.
  • The local farming pages of the newspaper and word of mouth could be used as drivers for educating about better waste disposal options.
  • Abandoned cars are a problem. It has been suggested that a levy on car registration could go to councils for collection and disposal. Abandoned cars are a national issue and a number one product stewardship issue for the West Coast.

Recycling, reuse and community

  • Waste infrastructure cost is higher on the coast than elsewhere. What are the options for West Coast waste? We need some good options.
  • People are concerned about how to recycle (but recycling might not be available in their area) and worried when waste is sent to the dump whereas industry is the biggest producer of waste. We should not forget about the 5% of the population who have no recycling facilities (4% may be from the West Coast). What do you tell them about how to recycle? This could be the next issue for the Waste Strategy Review in 2006.
  • Lack of seed funding for recycling projects is often a barrier to getting started. Sustainable Management Fund funding is valuable for this.

Education and information

  • People get mixed messages about how to recycle and where to go with their waste (e.g. Canterbury adverts on TV had wrong information for the West Coast).
  • It needs to be made clear to the public that the biggest waste producer is industry and not individuals. Waste pie charts could be put in newspapers and the information could be made available in public libraries and council newsletters. The information should not be watered down and people should not simply be referred to the MFE website.
  • We need to make sure that there is a replacement chemical available when phasing out an old one to avoid stockpiling (e.g. clopyralid - herbicide that interferes with composting).
  • In reporting on waste issues we need to be clear that some of the 5% of the people who do not recycle cannot because of the lack of infrastructure. It is uneconomic.
  • The cost of dealing with waste from tourists is a big issue for the West Coast. The tourism industry should look at a tourism levy again to address these waste issues.
  • The government should introduce a levy on the import of vehicles to pay for abandoned cars. This is the number one product stewardship issue for the West Coast.

Hazardous waste management

  • The huge advertising campaign on AgChem collection was not effective. It needs to be advertised better or there needs to be more effective strategies put in place to reach farmers and holders of chemicals.
  • Collection strategies need to be re-evaluated (e.g. in Canterbury they wait for the farmer to call).
  • There are issues regarding the safe movement of AgChems, the estates of farmers who have passed on and the shortage of contractors.
  • AgChem collections should continue. Multiple collections in one year are needed (e.g. 3 times a year) and winter is a good time to collect.
  • The hazardous chemical collection is only capturing a small proportion of the chemicals out there. We need more frequent collections, such as three times a year to increase the profile and success rate. We also need better information on the collections to inform that they are taking place. Less distance between the collection points might also help. Winter is the best time of year for collections to be made.
  • A hazardous waste training course was going to be run but there was not enough interest.
  • The West Coast’s inter-council waste group works well. It has councillors and senior managers on it and it was an outcome of a Regional Policy Statement (RPS) submission.

General

  • Westland is looking at waste going to Holcim (feasibility study).
  • Holcim’s incinerator future is uncertain. Is the door open or shut on high temperature waste incineration?
  • Coal and wood waste suits high temperature incineration.
  • It is difficult to treat waste. Is there enough waste on the West Coast to support pyrolasis? Is energy from waste allowed or banned by the high temperature incinerator ban?
  • There are issues regarding remnants after incineration. Something still needs to go to the landfill.
  • Medical waste is a problem.
  • There is one resource recovery centre in Hokitika and the consideration of more, such as one in Buller (Reefton).
  • There are plans to close small landfills.
  • Total diversion is approximately equal to 15% (cardboard and some plastic) the rest goes to the landfill.
  • All councils are working together to look at the next targets for waste

General topics

  • MFE publications do not get to the public easily.
  • The MFE website needs simplifying. It is currently hard to access and find where to go to when locating information; especially what is current and new.
  • MFE could improve its communications by e-mailing people and key stakeholders to tell them of new issues and changes etc.
  • Sustainable Management Fund funding is helpful.
  • Outside of MFE the West Coast Regional Council does not get the level of support and funding from any other government department.
  • The councils have a regional waste group that is backed by a regional policy statement submission. Councillors and senior staff can make funding decisions.
  • The Sustainable Management Fund should look at the proportion of funding it gives to council projects.
  • What is the role of the Parliamentary Commission for the Environment compared to the MFE? It is confusing.
  • Will the National Policy Statement take notice of the Significant Natural Areas process?
  • Energy generation is a big issue for the West Coast. An Energy National Policy Statement should allow areas where there is water generation to create hydro schemes. The energy loss from generation to house or business to switch is a big problem (30% loss).
  • What is happening with the Energy Generation and Transmission National Policy Statement? What progress has been made? There is interest in the philosophy behind the National Policy Statement to encourage renewables etc. People are also interested in enhancing the use of water on the West Coast (on its way to the sea) to generate energy.
  • Where is the Flood Management Review going? We would like to hear about its progress and outcomes. We do not want to see the old catchment board approach back (build your stop banks this high etc.)

Last updated: 17 September 2007