Rethinking Summer Rubbish Pick-ups on the East Coast

Thames-Coromandel District Council is proposing to change peak summer collections for rubbish and glass recycling in our east coast communities from twice weekly to once weekly.

These communities, from Whangamatā to Whangapoua, would still have rubbish, glass, mixed recycling and food waste collected once a week from the week of Christmas to the week of Waitangi Day.

The second collection hasn’t been well used. Overall, fewer than half of properties put rubbish and glass out for each of the second collections over the peak summer period just passed. Collection trucks often had little rubbish or recycling in them at the end of their run. This is not an efficient use of ratepayer money and needlessly adds to our district’s financial costs and to carbon emissions.

Our proposal will only affect this second rubbish and glass collection in our eastern communities, but all wards will benefit from the cost savings. Eastern communities will save the most since they’ll see the service change, while Thames and Coromandel-Colville wards will also benefit as the rubbish and recycling budget is partially shared district-wide.

This proposal is part of the review of our Annual Plan for 2025/26, and we want to know what you think of this potential kerbside change.

The feedback period opens 1 April and runs until 29 April.

Council adopts the final Annual Plan at the end of June, in time for the financial year beginning 1 July.

Decision Time for Thame-Coromandel

Over April and into mid-May we'll also be asking for your feedback on options to comply with the Government's new Local Water Done Well reforms and possibly on a Council rating review. Keep your eyes peeled for more information on these two issues in the coming weeks.

What’s driving the kerbside proposal?

Last year we set out our forecast work programme, budgets and rates for the following 10 years in our 2024-2034 Long Term Plan (LTP). The LTP gets reviewed and updated every three years, and for each year in between LTPs we create an Annual Plan to take into account changing circumstances.

The coming financial year beginning 1 July 2025 is year 2 of the LTP. 

Due to several factors outside of our control, like new Government requirements, our costs are increasing higher than we forecast in the LTP. 

Responding to the Local Water Done Well legislation on its own requires more expenditure before we transition to a new arrangement. We don’t think this is acceptable and we’ve been looking hard at ways to balance community needs with financial sustainability.

Inflation is still a factor, with the cost of the inputs that local government needs to provide the infrastructure and services we are responsible for continuing to rise faster than the Consumer Price Index.

We want to provide you with reliable services, but we are very conscious of the need to keep costs (and your rates) as low as we can.

Last year in the LTP we forecast an average district-wide rates increase of 7.7% for 2025/26. To stick to this, we’ve got to find savings elsewhere.

With that in mind, we’ve decided to make these changes 

Easing rate Increases

Using some of our district retained earnings to reduce pressure on rates. Retained earnings are savings the Council has set aside from past surpluses. These funds can be used to cover costs, reduce rate increases, or fund projects without borrowing money. 

Adjusting fees

Applying inflation-based increases (CPI) to fees and charges where possible. We know things are getting more expensive for everyone, so we’re making sure we can maintain our service level into the future.  

Operational savings 

We’re looking across all our other activities to find other savings. We operate on very slim budgets which means there isn’t much to trim without affecting service delivery. However, we anticipate reducing budgets for investigations and professional services across our transport and water services activities, plus making other operational savings, without affecting service delivery. 

Capital savings 

Four capital projects totalling $4.28 million will be deferred for a year. These are: 

• Pollen Street Lighting Upgrade: $287,119 
• Cooks Beach Treatment Plant Upgrade: $205,894 
• Thames South Water Treatment Plant, Puriri: $3.48 million 
• Additional weighbridges at Refuse and Recycling Transfer Stations: $308, 841. 

It's easy to have your say - from Tuesday 1 April

You’ll have a chance to let us know what you think about our kerbside collection proposal from Tues 1 – Tues 29 April.  

Providing feedback can also be as easy as scanning a QR code on our consultation document or a poster or information flyer and going from there. 

Fill out a survey form: 

• Online - www.tcdc.govt.nz/annualplan2025
• Paper – pick up a form 
  • at a TCDC customer services centre 
  • a District Library (Thames, Tairua, Whitianga) 
  • email us – consultation@tcdc.govt.nz

Or share your views face-to-face:  

• Meet with elected members and our waste and recycling team: people in the communities most affected by the proposed changes to our rubbish and recycling services can meet with our team to find out more about the proposed changes to our rubbish collections and provide their feedback then and there if it suits. 
• Join our elected members at one of their meetings (including online) and tell them their views (often referred to as a ‘hearing’). We've booked a date on Monday 5 May where people can share their feedback in person at Thames office or call in online from our Whangamatā and Whitianga offices or from their own space. 
• As always, anyone is welcome to kōrero with our elected members when they are out and about at markets and local events. 

You won’t need to put things in writing as well as tell us in person – it will all be captured and shared with our elected members. If you’d like to meet us face-to-face, you can just turn up and share your thoughts. Our only ask is that you book a time beforehand for our elected member meetings.   

Stay up to date 

• We’ll keep you updated as we move through this process and look forward to hearing your thoughts on our proposed change to rubbish collections if you are affected.
• If you’d like to stay up to date with this project and other Council news, sign up for our weekly e-newsletter.
• Our 'Have Your Say' page will be open for feedback just before Tuesday 1 April - stay tuned at www.tcdc.govt.nz/annualplan2025