Council to look at Cancelling Request for Proposal

The need to take a fresh look at some of the contentious issues associated with the proposed kerbside refuse collection system has persuaded Waitaki District Council officers to recommend that the current Request for Proposal process be cancelled.

Council’s Strategy Group Manager Richard Mabon says that, “It has become increasingly clear that Councillors want to look more carefully at some aspects of kerbside collection and we think that the best way to do that is to call a halt to the current tender process.”

“It is not a matter of going back to square one “he says, “but trying to identify the changes Councillors would like to see implemented and then assessing how we can move forward with them.” Mr Mabon considers that if Council tried to do that with the present tender process still in place there could be some legal risks. It would also be more difficult to talk to any interested parties including the tenderers about alternative methods to achieve a good outcome.

“Our goal is the same as it has always been. We have got to extend the life of the landfill by diverting as much green waste and recyclable material as we can. That’s the only way we can save rate payers the many millions of dollars that constructing a new site would involve. The longer that we can delay that the more chance we have to consider a wider range of options as new technologies emerge.”

The recommendation to cancel the Request For Proposal will be considered by the Councils Assets Committee on Tuesday 6 May and later in the month by full Council. If adopted, it will allow Council to consider alternative methods to achieve its kerbside collection goals.