Councillors call for decision on transfer station reopening

A deadline to reopen the privately-owned Envirowaste Cambridge Transfer Station is being sought by Waipā District Council with the community being without a local waste transfer station for over six months.

The station is located at 27 Matos Segedin Drive, Leamington.

Last week, at Wednesday’s Waipā District Council’s Strategic Planning & Policy Committee, Councillors asked for Envirowaste to give the Cambridge community an update on when the Transfer Station would reopen..

The Transfer Station was closed by Envirowaste last year in August due to the need for upgrades required to reopen safely to the public.

Councillors were particularly concerned of the length of closure of the Transfer Station, as they were receiving feedback from the community who had incorrectly assumed that Council was responsible for the facility or that it was fully funded through rates, neither of which are correct.

The Envirowaste Cambridge Transfer Station is a commercially-run business, although Council does provide an annual grant of $26,700 to Envirowaste to support the station being open for longer hours in response to historic community demand. The grant is not currently being paid with the station closed.

Council’s Group Manager – Service Delivery, Dawn Inglis said Council will be reviewing their Waste Minimisation and Management Plan in 2023, which will take a holistic view of the need for, and delivery of, all waste management services across our district.

Inglis said staff had been in contact with Envirowaste and unfortunately there was no update on reopening at the present time.

“We understand that Envirowaste are taking a business case to their board about reopening options. They have not yet provided a timeline of when we will receive the information.”

Residents can use neighbouring Te Awamutu Waste Transfer Station, owned and managed by Waste Management, located at 2 Daphne Street, which is open from 8am – 4pm, Monday to Saturday, or travel to the Resource Recovery Centre on Lincoln Street in Hamilton is also available for waste and recycling services.