Rotary Timaru’s Mainland Address features Dr Nick Smith, and . . .

Environment minister says Timaru is a clear leader in waste management

Timaru has been a clear leader in waste management and is an example for other areas of the country, Environment Minister Nick Smith says.

A Timaru District Council-driven environmental approach that led to the country’s first three-bin kerbside collection system where households separated recyclables, and compostable green waste from rubbish being sent to a rapidly-filling Redruth landfill, was an example of community achievement, he said.

Guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Timaru’s “Mainland Address” at a Caroline Bay function centre this month, Dr Smith said that if the country was going to make headway on the environmental approach, “the key thing is to reward those who recycle and compost, and Timaru has been a real leader around this concept”.

Rotary Timaru’s “Mainland Address” is an annual fixture to attract and encourage central government to focus on issues affecting the South Island, president Gilly Oppenheim said.

Previous keynote speakers have been John Key, Bill English and Michael Cullen.

Dr Smith told more than 120 civic and business leaders at the function that market mechanics and prices needed to be sorted to get a good environmental outcome.

“The view was that if you did not provide really cheap dump charges you would see litter all over the place.

“We literally subsidised stink, that is councils rated everybody whether you were good at recycling or not, and the aim was to keep the tip charges a low as possible.

“It was dumb economy and dumb environmental policy,” Dr Smith said.

He said the best outcomes were achieved by rewarding with price incentives those who recycled and sorted their household waste.

On the national scale Dr Smith said New Zealand needed to keep asking itself how it could marry together a strong, growing economy with good environmental practices.

“For New Zealand, more than any other developed country, that balance matters to us more than anyone else in the world,” he said.

He striking the balance had resulted in some polarised views that had led to conflict between business and environmental groups.

“There has been a view that the more extreme you become, the more you are likely to influence the outcome,” Dr Smith said.

“So one of things that National is attempting to do around these environmental issues is to move away from the environment of conflict; that environment where people attempt to divide and polarise the issues to try to influence outcomes, to reach a position where you reward collaboration where you can say to both the developers and the environmentalists that collaboration will leave them all as part of the solution,” he said.

Dr Smith answered questions from the audience before being officially thanked for his attendance at the Rotary function.

Mrs Oppenheim said the calibre of speakers attracted to Rotary functions such as the Mainland Address showed the organisation was keen to remain in touch with issues that regions face.

“Rotary is an organisation for the betterment of tomorrow through thoughtful and positive action today,” she said.

“We are fortunate to have in our organisation members from most walks of life, each contributing to core Rotary values that include youth, literacy and community service.

“We have a presence at most community events and you do not have to walk far to find someone who has benefitted from Rotary or who is enjoying our family activities at fairs and playgrounds.

“Having senior Government politicians the calibre of Nick Smith to address us as well as local government officials and businesspeople in our audience ensures we remain relevant to the needs of our communities,” Mrs Oppenheim said.

ENDS

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