The cost of the City Council’s recycling collection and rubbish disposal is reflected in an increase in the price of rubbish bags.

From August 1 the cost of a bag will rise from $1.00 ($10 for a pack of 10 – GST inclusive) to $1.25 ($12.50 for a pack of 10). The increase was confirmed in the City Council’s Annual Plan which is year two of its 10 Year Plan.

The Council’s Water and Waste Services Manager, Chris Pepper, says the Council is progressively moving towards a full user pays policy for its kerbside rubbish collection.

From PNCC Press Release:

A decision has been reached by a panel of three independent commissioners appointed by Palmerston North City Council, Horowhenua District Council and Horizons Regional Council to hear submissions on applications from Motorimu Wind Farm Limited to develop, construct, install, operate, maintain and decommission 127 wind turbines in the Tararua Ranges adjacent to Linton and Tokomaru. Commissioners Dinah Williams, Richard Heerdegen and David McMahon have granted consent for 75 of the proposed turbines to be constructed and have declined consent for the remaining 52 turbines. The grant of consent for the 75 turbines is subject to a number of detailed conditions imposed by the commissioners in appendices to their decision.
The applications were submitted to the three local authorities towards the end of last year and were followed by ten and a half days of public hearings held in Palmerston North in March this year.

People who dump rubbish on the rural roads that divide the city and the Manawatu District Council are coming under the close scrutiny of both Councils.

The Head of the City Council’s Environmental Protection Services, Wayne Jameson, says the problem of dumping rubbish is gradually getting worse and both Councils are determined to identify who is littering the rural roads.

In the last few weeks the Councils have erected signs warning people that camera surveillance has been introduced. A mobile camera has been installed on one of the roads where rubbish is being dumped and will be moved regularly to other targets.

People who dump rubbish on the rural roads that divide the city and the Manawatu District Council are coming under the close scrutiny of both Councils.

The Head of the City Council’s Environmental Protection Services, Wayne Jameson, says the problem of dumping rubbish is gradually getting worse and both Councils are determined to identify who is littering the rural roads.

In the last few weeks the Councils have erected signs warning people that camera surveillance has been introduced. A mobile camera has been installed on one of the roads where rubbish is being dumped and will be moved regularly to other targets.

On 18th October, at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Infrastructural Well-Being Committee, Palmerston North City Council voted to proceed with the change of purpose of the Turitea Reserve to add an additional local purpose - renewable energy generation.

The weather was kind for a few hours today and I joined two council staff members on a trip to the Turitea Reserve. All councillors have been given several opportunities to go up to the reserve by 4-wheel-drive to familiarise ourselves properly with the “lay of the land” prior to our workshops and later decision-making over the proposed change in status of the Turitea Reserve. Until my trip today, nobody had taken up the road-trip offers; however, several of us have been trying for weeks now to get an aerial view (the only way the entirety of the reserve can be seen) and, with luck, the weather will be kind enough to let us take off tomorrow.

Last week I was asked why I had not written anything about the proposed change of purpose of the Turitea Reserve and proposed amendments to the Turitea Reserve Management Plan. Well, I wrote about the submissions and hearings in my post of 15th September. I can update you now on things that are a matter of public record, but that is all I am able to do.

Last Monday night, I attended a meeting of the Environmental and Planning Well-Being Committee. Among the items debated was editorial amendments to Council bylaws. In 2004, Council undertook an extensive review of the bylaws and after many meetings, briefings and much debate, the current bylaws were eventually passed.

Now, as happens once in a while, some typographical errors were found. Things like references to the wrong clause are easily missed when people are focusing on the substance. When this happens, minor changes to correct errors are dealt with by bringing the matter forward at a publicly notified meeting.

Some of you have been calling me about irritating smoke coming into your properties from neighbouring chimneys. My own house regularly fills with smoke from a nearby wood fire so I have a lot of sympathy for those of you who are similarly affected.

In April, an air pollutant monitoring station was set up in the city to continuously monitor the air quality. As part of council’s moves to comply with the National Standards for Air Quality, council will investigate all calls from residents concerned about pollution from household chimneys. If you have concerns about smoky chimneys, please call PNCC Customer Services on 356-8199.

In today’s local newspaper the issue of the Notice of Motion over the Linklater Block completely misrepresents the position taken by Cr’s Gordon Cruden, Alison Wall, Anne Podd, and myself.

There is no issue around the fact that councillors will not be able to attend next week’s council meeting. As long as there is a quorum council properly conducts its business - end of story! To beat the newspaper article up into some kind of sour grapes that we will be away at conference is misleading the public.

The paper says, “Crs Podd, Wall, Cruden and Pope will be in Auckland next week at a planning and resource management conference in Auckland and they say the meeting will be unrepresentative of the council’s view.” What rubbish! The only effect our absence will have at the meeting is that we will not be present to vote against council taking an illegal action.

The issue is actually simple - the Linklater Block is included in the Draft Annual Plan. Submissions on the DAP are open until 20th May. Council is constrained by law to go into consultation and the resultant debates with an open mind. We cannot legally circumvent the consultation process by making a decision on any aspect of the DAP until after submissions close and are taken fully into account during our debate on the plan.