Bobbish contractors offered discount

Press, 19 December 1986, Page 8

Bobbish contractors offered discount

A dispute over the charges rubbish contractors faced at the Christchurch refuse transfer stations could soon be resolved.

The Metropolitan Refuse Disposal Committee has offered the contractors a $3 a tonne discount on accounts paid on time.

, The contractors are considering the latest development. Commercial waste collectors have been waiting until a few minutes before the 4 p.m. closing time at the Parkhouse Road, Sockburn station each day before converging to empty their loads. The action was taken as a protest against charges which they said subsidised private users. Transfer station staff were forced into working overtime by the action. Refuse Disposal Committee staff met contrac-

tors’ representatives in an attempt to solve the dispute.

The committee’s secretary, Mr Peter Chapple, said four options were considered. The first three would either not satisfy the contractors, upset the public, or leave the committee with a shortfall in income. Offering a discount was the only option left. Dumping so far this financial year had been 3.8 per cent higher than expected, Mr Chapple said. The estimates were recast to take the increase into account and an expected $74,000 loss became a surplus of $55,000. Allowing contractors a $3 a tonne discount on accounts paid on time would probably cost the committee $50,000. To qualify for the discount, operators would have to form a group, possibly under the Road

Transport Association, and become registered with Refuse Disposal Committee. The new charges would take effect from January 12. The committee’s chairman, Cr Ron Wright, said the agreement reached between staff and contractors’ representatives had been a compromise by both parties. He said the refuse stations were a business, and as such the committee should be looking for volume, looking for customers, and trying to keep business “ticking over.”

The discount would encourage contractors to settle accounts on time, thus improving the committee’s cashflow.

The charges would be reviewed again when the committee set its estimates for the next financial year, Cr Wright said.