Here’s a summary of Council services over the Christmas and New Year public holidays 2023-24 – there are a few temporary changes to operating hours at some facilities.

The administration building and customer services counter at Baring Square West will close at 1pm on Friday 22 December, and open again on Wednesday 3 January. We have staff rostered on over the break to undertake essential tasks like water testing and cleaning public toilets.

You can still get in touch with us at any time over the holiday period if you have a problem or urgently need to contact us, as the afterhours service will be operating 24 hours-a-day - please phone 03 307 7700.

Rubbish and recycling

There is no kerbside rubbish and recycling collection on Christmas Day so Council will be collecting everyone’s wheelie bins one day later than normal that week. Monday’s collection moves to Tuesday, and Tuesday’s collection to Wednesday, and so on throughout the week; Friday’s collection will take place on Saturday.

Kerbside collection services are as normal from Monday 1 January, even though it is New Year’s Day.

Keep your recycling sorted correctly: Paper, gift wrapping and flattened cardboard can be put in the yellow recycling bin, but metallic, plastic or foil wrapping, bows and ribbons aren’t recyclable and need to go into the rubbish.

Try the tear test - if you can’t easily rip it, it’s likely to have a plastic coating so chuck it in the red bin, along with plastic toy and gift packaging. Still not sure, check it out on binitright.nz.

Remember to have your wheelie bins out by 7.30am on collection days and use your windstrap, whether it's windy or not.

Resource Recovery Parks

The Ashburton Resource Recovery Park will close at 12pm on Sunday 24 December, and be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It will be open and operating normally from  Wednesday 27 January to Sunday 31 January.

The resource recovery park will also be closed on New Year’s Day, Monday 1 January. The facility will be open on Tuesday 2 January and resume normal hours.

The Methven green waste dropoff will be closed on Sunday 24 December.

The Rakaia Resource Recovery Park will be closed on Monday 25 December and on Monday 1 January.

EA Networks Centre

The centre will operate its usual hours on Friday 22 December and Saturday 23 December, and from 7am-3pm on Sunday 24 December.

The centre will be closed on 25 and 26 December and on 1 and 2 January. It will be open from 10am-5pm every other day (closing at 3pm on New Year’s eve) and return to normal hours on Wednesday 3 January.

Keep an eye on the centre’s Facebook page for other aquatic activities.

Mt Hutt Memorial Hall

The Mt Hutt Memorial Hall at Methven will be closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January. Operating hours on other days are 10am-2pm.

Ashburton Public Library

The Ashburton Public Library will be open as normal on Saturday 23 December from 10am-1pm, and from 1pm-4pm on Sunday 24 December, but closed Monday 25 December and Tuesday 26 December.

It will be open from 9am-5pm on Wednesday 27 December, Thursday 28 December and Friday 29 December, and on Saturday 30 December from 10am-1pm, and Sunday 31 December from 1pm-4pm.

It will be closed Monday 1 January, and Tuesday 2 January.

The library’s next chapter begins on Wednesday 3 January, when it closes for a three-week period so books and resources can be shifted to the new library space at Te Whare Whakatere, the new library and civic centre on Baring Square East.
Te Whare Whakatere, including the library, will open to the public on Monday 22 January.

Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum

The Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum will be open 10am-4pm every day except Monday 25 December and Tuesday 26 December.

There’s always a host of activities, including the great Santa Hunt when visitors try to find all the sneaky Santas in their hiding spots.
The gallery celebrates the 130th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand with a special exhibition Suffrage in Stitches, which runs from 2 December to 18 February.

When the Electoral Act 1893 was passed, this landmark legislation saw New Zealand become the first self-governing country in the world to give all women the right to vote. Suffrage in Stitches features a 300m long textile work made up of 546 individual panels, representing the length of the Suffrage Petition from 1893.

Watch out for details on Facebook for the facility’s daily activities during the holidays.

Administration building

Council’s administration building on Baring Square West will close at 1pm on Friday 22 December, and re-open at 8.30am on Wednesday 3 January.

If you have a problem or urgently need to contact us, then the afterhours/24 hours-a-day service will be operating - please phone 03 307 7700.

Emails, Snap Send Solves and website requests will be cleared when the office re-opens.

Public toilets around the district will be open daily as usual, and Open Spaces staff will be on deck to keep our parks and reserves looking ship shape.

All services will return to normal by Wednesday 3 January.