8th May 2022: Submissions on Landfill Future Due
Submissions on Wellington City Council’s Annual Plan, Issue 2, on the 'Future of the Southern Landfill', close on 15 May. Below is some background to help you prepare your own submission or comment on ours.
These three options are not really alternatives – as none of the long-listed ones are. The rather long-winded exercise over the last couple of years to get to these 3 has been driven by WCC’s need to be seen to satisfy legal requirements for a transparent evaluation process.
Whatever technology is used to reduce waste (and here there is only one suggestion – an incinerator), there is always going to be a residual amount, and this residual amount is what this WCC consultation is about. So the only real options for 2026 are to close the landfill or to extend it. Added to that there are several good reasons not to vote for an incinerator in our back yard! – they are listed in our draft submission.
Sewage Sludge
Until now there has been little chance of closing the Southern Landfill because of the sewage sludge piped from Moa Point actually needing normal waste to mix in. However, the council has at last decided to stop the sludge in 2026 by building a processor at Moa Point. It is only at that point that Wellington can – at least according to council plans - reduce the waste going to the landfill.
Waste Minimisation
This is an almost impossible debate to have without knowing what the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) is, ie. Wellington‘s waste strategy. This planning will not happen until later this year – AFTER a decision has been made on the Landfill extension and AFTER the Resource Consents (RC) have been applied for.
WCC say they cannot leave the RC applications for the landfill any later; we see this as a problem because the RCs should have conditions attached that guarantee the waste is reduced year by year.
Closure vs Extension
We know that the Landfill Piggyback extension is a foregone conclusion. So while it’s a good idea for affected residents to protest by voting for a closure, OBRA is going to be pushing for the extension to be an interim solution on the understanding that the landfill will be phased out and closed before its 20 years of lifetime is up.
We are saying NO more extensions and we’ll be working towards somehow getting this guarantee on both the Residual Waste Working Group and the WMMP working group. The only way for it to happen is for waste to be drastically cut, starting now.
T&T and C&D Tips
Phasing out the Southern Landfill leaves two more elephants in the room. It is necessary to also address the waste going into the T&T and C&D tips because it is a very large proportion of what the trucks take down Happy Valley Road.
WCC needs to get control over these because currently they do not even know what is going in there, how much is from out of town, or if there are greenhouse gas emissions. Now is a good time when their leases and resource consents and sales are coming up.
Having access to this rubbish in the short term would have the benefit of allowing the Southern Landfill to immediately reduce in volume without waiting for the sludge to stop in 2026.
Funding
The council has a fundamental conflict of interest. They depend on the tip for a large amount of income which is used to fund their waste services. The waste levy is going up but they do not want to lose gate fees. They need to produce a new funding model and we haven’t yet seen this.
So please read our draft submission and send us your comments by 13 May, which we’ll take account of. Also, or alternatively, please submit your own by 15 May.
Landfill Update: Micro Beads - 15th August 2021 - Angela Wilson
OBRA has a representative on the Southern Landfill’s Community Liaison Group that had meet twice this year, the last early August. We raised the community’s disdain at the recent mysterious appearance of micro-beads on the beach and the inevitable devastating impact on our marine reserve inhabitants.
Shockingly we were told this is a historical legacy, we should expect at least once a year, no one knows how many beads escaped and, yes, the micro beads are in the landfill.
The incredulous story of the micro-bead ‘great escape’ was both a ‘learning experience’ and systems failure for Anglia, Wellington Water’s predecessor and there are two known incidents. The micro-beads did their first runner in 1999 from Carey’s Gully - a consequence of the Council’s bury sludge at the Landfill policy, and their escape route was down the Ōwhiro Stream.
The second escape was in 2003 from Moa Point, which resulted in the beads going far and wide along the coast to Pencarrow. The micro-bead technology was installed in the late 1990’s used in the de-watering process to contol microbes.
In September an Options Paper on Residential Waste is going to Council, which will be followed by a public consultation process. We should expect to see the influence of minimisation of sewage sludge and waste minimisation on the options.
We also raised concern at the poor ‘cover your load’ signage and sluggish effort to educate and enforce fit for purpose covering of loads to the tip. Of concern are the big trucks that seem to make the most of invisibility of their load. We encourage reporting to NZTA Waka Kotahi and Roading Police. All loads need to be secured sufficiently so they cannot fall or be blown off the vehicle. No vehicle should be moved if any part of the load is not secured.
We encourage the taking of photo’s identifying number plate and inappropriate cover. Really useful is date and time.
Contacts:
The next meeting is in November, so email OBRA if you have anything you would like us to pass on or raise at the meeting.
Shockingly we were told this is a historical legacy, we should expect at least once a year, no one knows how many beads escaped and, yes, the micro beads are in the landfill.
The incredulous story of the micro-bead ‘great escape’ was both a ‘learning experience’ and systems failure for Anglia, Wellington Water’s predecessor and there are two known incidents. The micro-beads did their first runner in 1999 from Carey’s Gully - a consequence of the Council’s bury sludge at the Landfill policy, and their escape route was down the Ōwhiro Stream.
The second escape was in 2003 from Moa Point, which resulted in the beads going far and wide along the coast to Pencarrow. The micro-bead technology was installed in the late 1990’s used in the de-watering process to contol microbes.
In September an Options Paper on Residential Waste is going to Council, which will be followed by a public consultation process. We should expect to see the influence of minimisation of sewage sludge and waste minimisation on the options.
We also raised concern at the poor ‘cover your load’ signage and sluggish effort to educate and enforce fit for purpose covering of loads to the tip. Of concern are the big trucks that seem to make the most of invisibility of their load. We encourage reporting to NZTA Waka Kotahi and Roading Police. All loads need to be secured sufficiently so they cannot fall or be blown off the vehicle. No vehicle should be moved if any part of the load is not secured.
We encourage the taking of photo’s identifying number plate and inappropriate cover. Really useful is date and time.
Contacts:
- NZTA Waka Kotahi 0800 699 000, [email protected]
- Roading Police – Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 (report crime anonymously)
- Community Roadwatch secure online form.
The next meeting is in November, so email OBRA if you have anything you would like us to pass on or raise at the meeting.
