Wastenet decision draws anger in community, councillors told

Wednesday, 12 December 2018

A decision not to roll over a recycling contract for an organisation that employs 90  disabled Southlanders has resulted in a level of public anger similar to the museum closure, Invercargill city councillors have been told.

Southland's three territorial councils, through their combined body Wastenet, have decided to put the region's recycling contract out to tender instead of renewing the contract with Southland DisAbility Enterprises.

Southland DisAbility Enterprises employs about 120 people including about 90 with disabilities to sort the recyclables at its Invercargill plant.

Wastenet has previously said it had been faced with a significant increase in the price wanted by Southland DisAbility Enterprises - how much of an increase is unknown to the public - so has opened the process up to other bidders to test the market.

Nobby Clark, spokesman for the Invercargill Ratepayers Advocacy Group, told city councillors  at  Tuesday's  council meeting that the Wastenet  decision to not renew the contract for Southland DisAbilities had not gone down well.

'You should be aware that a parental online petition has 5000 signatures in under a week and we expect the petition to grow significantly,' he said.

READ MORE: Families of Southlanders with disabilities vow to fight

The ratepayers group had been getting 'significant feedback' and the level of public anger was similar to the museum closure.

Clark said the council appeared to be completely disregarding the social benefit associated with renewing the Southland DisAbility Enterprises contract.

The job gave the disabled workers a sense of belonging and the alternative for many would be to sit at home isolated.

Not everything the council funded should be solely based on a financial spreadsheet, he said.

If that were the case the council would not provide housing for the elderly, it would not have poured more than $1m into Southland rugby by taking ownership of Rugby Park and it would not have kept the Bluff Transfer Station open, Clark said.

Families of the people with disabilities who work at Southland DisAbility Enterprises have previously vowed to fight the decision to not renew the contract.

Southland DisAbility Enterprises intends to tender for the work to try and keep the contract.