All options appear to be back on the table as the Dunedin City Council considers plans for a new kerbside rubbish and recycling system.
The three-bin service proposed initially, which would see residents rolling out two wheelie bins for recycling and a third for rubbish, is now one of four options to be considered at Monday's extraordinary infrastructure services committee meeting.
Three alternative options have been added for consideration, after councillors meeting on July 20 reacted nervously to the three-bin system's $5.2 million annual cost.
The new options include the retention of black rubbish bags while introducing a reduced recycling system, costing between $36 and $70 for each household depending on the scope of the system chosen.
One option involves two 140-litre bins - one for glass and the other for other recyclables - while another option involves one 140-litre bin for recyclables and the city's existing 45-litre blue crates used for glass only.
Another option involves a single 140-litre bin for mixed recyclables, either including or excluding glass.
The report also suggested a variety of alternative options to cater for hard-to-reach people, the elderly or those living alone.
Contacted yesterday, council solid waste manager Ian Featherston said he still believed the three-bin option, costing $190 per household each year, would provide the best outcome for the city, but it was up to councillors to decide.
"I think, for the level of service people are getting for that $190, it's a really good deal. It will really clean up the city."
The impact the $5.2 million annual cost of a three-bin service would have on rates in 2010-11 had also been revised down, as any new system would only be in place for nine months in the first year, he said.
The cost was now expected to see rates rise by 4.5%, to 13.2% that year, with slightly larger - but still small - increases added in following years, he said.
Councillors meeting on Monday are expected to select a preferred option for public consultation scheduled to begin on August 18.
However, legal advice from Anderson Lloyd Lawyers, included in the staff report, indicated the other options could also be included in public consultation as "alternatives that have been considered but not selected".
Once included, the council would then be "free to discard its preferred option" and select an alternative service instead, if public feedback demanded it, the report said.
The developments came after some councillors called for cheaper options to be included in public consultation, to gauge support, while others worried such a move might mean the council's consultation did not comply with the Local Government Act.
The three-bin service was initially recommended to councillors following last year's rubbish survey, which garnered nearly 10,000 responses and found strong support for wheelie bins.
However, infrastructure services committee chairman Cr Andrew Noone said last week the projected cost of the three-bin scheme was "a major issue".
"With all the other projected increases in rates, particularly over the next three years . . . there's really not much room for many additional increases," he told the Otago Daily Times.
