ORC head criticises DCC claim

THE Dunedin City Council’s apparent inability to control waste is its own fault, Otago Regional Council chairman Stephen Woodhead says.

The comments come after Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull criticised the regional council this week for having a waste plan which was more than a decade overdue for review.

This made it difficult for the city council to review its own waste plan, he said.

City council solid waste manager Catherine Irvine said the regional council’s regional plan for waste — which outlined the regulatory environment — was 12 years overdue for a review.

That meant Otago now had the most ‘‘permissive’’ approach to waste management in the country.

This incentivised ‘‘farm fills’’, which was when farmers dug holes and filled them with waste, she said.

Mr Woodhead said yesterday he was ‘‘offended’’ by the mayor’s comments, especially since the chief executive had been working with the city council on its waste plan for ‘‘months’’.

Farm fills are permitted through the regional council’s waste plan.

However, there were rules such as restrictions on hazardous materials and the waste needing to be created on the property.

‘‘It’s illegal to have someone else’s rubbish. Let’s just be realistic around that.’’

However, as farm fills are a permitted activity under the council’s plan, it will only investigate them after complaints.

The city council’s expensive landfill rates resulted in people ‘‘flytipping’’, or dropping waste in public areas, he said.

The regional council spoke in the past about how its water and air plans dealt with some of the gaps in the waste plan.

The regional council was ‘‘not in a rush’’ to review its waste plan and might not actually need one, Mr Woodhead said.

‘‘That’ll be something that we look at.’’

The city council’s admission only 19% of the city’s waste stream was under its direct control was ‘‘just unbelievable’’ he said.

‘‘That tells me that their current policies and processes aren’t working. That’s not our waste plan’s fault.’’

Regional councillor Bryan Scott said it was ‘‘not a time to be offended’’. He requested staff provide a report on key issues concerning its waste plan.