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Far North District Council Let’s sort it Waste in the Far North

Posted in Regional, Submission; Tagged Housing, Accessibility, Health; Posted 8 months ago by DPA Less than a minute to read

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To: Far North District Council
Date: July 2025

 

Purpose

This submission aims to provide feedback to the Far North District Council on its "Waste in the Far North" plan, advocating for the inclusion of the Taitokerau Northland disability community and ensuring waste management services, infrastructure, and educational campaigns are accessible to all residents, including disabled people.

Summary of DPA submission

DPA supports the Far North District Council's draft Solid Waste Strategy and Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, particularly acknowledging the relevance of objectives including community networking, education, good infrastructure, and services for disabled people.

The submission highlights that while the Taitokerau Regional Accessibility Strategy was adopted, explicit references to disability are missing from the waste plan and we advocate for active collaboration with disabled people to strengthen accessibility of the waste management system.

DPA strongly supports the development of assisted collection services, which would allow waste and recycling to be collected directly from the properties of disabled, older, and health-conditioned residents. It recommends placing soft plastics bins in accessible locations across Northland and ensuring that waste minimisation education campaigns are accessible to everyone, including D/deaf and disabled people.

DPA also supports investing in a circular economy, noting the opportunities for disabled people to lead and operate businesses in waste management and recycling, citing an example of a Whangārei disabled community leader advocating for accessible playgrounds and running repair cafés that employed disabled staff.

The submission also stresses the importance of clear pathways for rubbish and recycling bins to ensure safe navigation for people using mobility aids and those who are blind or low vision.

 

Key Recommendation/Finding:

DPA recommends that local disabled people and disability organisations are prioritised for consultation around waste management accessibility and that the Council consult with their Disability Advisory Group on how campaigns around waste minimisation and management can be made accessible to disabled people.

 

Supporting Statement 1:

DPA strongly supports the development of assisted collection services as this will benefit disabled residents, older residents and people with health conditions in having their waste and recycling collected directly from their properties by contractors.

 

Supporting Statement 2:

If pathways are littered with bins, then disabled or elderly people need to use the grass or the road which can sometimes be hazardous.

 
 

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DPA Submission 2507 Far North District Council Let’s sort it Waste in the Far North (DOCX)

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