When the infrastructure general manager for Tauranga City Council says that 66 per cent of respondents were in favour of a council led kerb- side service, this may be so, but I am yet to meet even one of this 66 per cent.

The fait accompli masquerading as a democratic and collaborative decision made between ratepayers, and the soon-to-be-replaced council, is faulty for more than one reason.

There is no encouragement or incentives to reduce waste to landfill as there is with the throw-and-pay scheme operated by some councils, ie user pays.

The single person household has as much bin capacity to fill each week as a family of six, ie one size fits all and you pay whether you use the capacity, or not.

The existing system using local providers, offers choice as opposed to the monopolistic system proposed using an overseas based company; and the $230 mentioned is only the beginning.

So the three households I am associated with, instead of using the one recycling bin, will share it among three bins after July, continue to deal with household garbage in our worm farms, and two or three times a year put out a user-pays bag for landfill.

And will leave the empty bins road-side just to remind us all of another memorable example of Tauranga City Council decision making.

Norman Harris, Tauranga South,