Landfill Updates - 23/06/24
We have posted news about the Southern Landfill at various points over the last 4 years , on Facebook and in the OBRA emailed newsletter, but are now going to have a slightly more frequent update on our website. Please contact OBRA if you want more detailed information. This initial posting offers a brief overview of what has happened with the landfill and where we are headed.
Background
Most of you will know about the extension of the landfill and the sewage sludge stories from our previous missives and from the council’s communications. Briefly: back in 2013 community groups were able to stop WCC creating a huge extension to the landfill stretching up Carey’s gully, causing significant environmental impact.
WCC says that by 2026 the landfill will be full and coincidentally the resource consents will expire, so there has to be an extension. They therrefore went away and worked out a less intrusive plan, culminating in ‘SLEPO’, Southern Landfill Extension Piggyback Option by which a closed part of the landfill, Stage 2, will be capped and then waste layered over the top in a ‘piggyback’. This has now received the go-ahead from Greater Wellington and an independent board of commissioners. You will have seen past missives about this, and our submissions to the council.
The other thing that has been going on is a plan to stop sewage sludge going into the landfill. In case you have missed this, Moa Point currently pipes about a million litres of liquid sewage sludge the 9 km to the landfill where there is a dewatering plant. The sludge is dewatered to a certain extent and then mixed with dry waste and buried in the tip.
This is a major cause of the odours. A new sludge minimization facility is being built at Moa Point and will enable the sewage to no longer be piped over here. Instead, from 2026 there will be a much smaller amount of dry, non-odourous pellets to be trucked over. Only then can Wellington try to minimize waste.
WCC says that by 2026 the landfill will be full and coincidentally the resource consents will expire, so there has to be an extension. They therrefore went away and worked out a less intrusive plan, culminating in ‘SLEPO’, Southern Landfill Extension Piggyback Option by which a closed part of the landfill, Stage 2, will be capped and then waste layered over the top in a ‘piggyback’. This has now received the go-ahead from Greater Wellington and an independent board of commissioners. You will have seen past missives about this, and our submissions to the council.
The other thing that has been going on is a plan to stop sewage sludge going into the landfill. In case you have missed this, Moa Point currently pipes about a million litres of liquid sewage sludge the 9 km to the landfill where there is a dewatering plant. The sludge is dewatered to a certain extent and then mixed with dry waste and buried in the tip.
This is a major cause of the odours. A new sludge minimization facility is being built at Moa Point and will enable the sewage to no longer be piped over here. Instead, from 2026 there will be a much smaller amount of dry, non-odourous pellets to be trucked over. Only then can Wellington try to minimize waste.
What OBRA's Involvement Has Been
Since 2013 OBRA committee member Angela Wilson has been attending quarterly Community Liaison Group (CLG) meetings at the tip. These meetings give us an update on landfill events that affect the community and allow us to report to WCC on odour, stream pollution, heavy traffic etc.
For the last 2 years OBRA committee member Ali Forrest has been attending WCC-run monthly workshops on the new SLEPO extension in order to monitor conditions attached to the new resource consents (RCs) for 2026 and to represent community interests. There is a stricter set of conditions attached to the new RCs than was the case previously.
In December the RCs for SLEPO were granted and so we have gone into a new phase. A new group – the Community Advisory Group (CAG) - has been set up which will meet monthly for the lifetime of the new 25 year resource consents. These meetings give us more teeth than we had in the CLG, as we will have meaningful input to processes.
The CLG and CAG are currently both running – overlapping until 2026. Every quarter in future, there will be a joint CLG and CAG meeting as it’s a lot of work for community groups otherwise.
Other things OBRA has done over the last 3 years are submitting to council both in writing and orally on the options for the SL extension , waste minimization, long term plan , district plan, GW commission on the SLEPO RCs and more.
A list of useful links and news items:
For the last 2 years OBRA committee member Ali Forrest has been attending WCC-run monthly workshops on the new SLEPO extension in order to monitor conditions attached to the new resource consents (RCs) for 2026 and to represent community interests. There is a stricter set of conditions attached to the new RCs than was the case previously.
In December the RCs for SLEPO were granted and so we have gone into a new phase. A new group – the Community Advisory Group (CAG) - has been set up which will meet monthly for the lifetime of the new 25 year resource consents. These meetings give us more teeth than we had in the CLG, as we will have meaningful input to processes.
The CLG and CAG are currently both running – overlapping until 2026. Every quarter in future, there will be a joint CLG and CAG meeting as it’s a lot of work for community groups otherwise.
Other things OBRA has done over the last 3 years are submitting to council both in writing and orally on the options for the SL extension , waste minimization, long term plan , district plan, GW commission on the SLEPO RCs and more.
A list of useful links and news items:
- Moa Point sludge minimisation facility - Projects - Wellington City Council
- Southern Landfill Extension | Have Your Say | Greater Wellington (gw.govt.nz)
- Southern Landfill extension - Projects - Wellington City Council
- OBRA Southern Landfill Submission - Owhiro Bay Residents Association
- Ōwhiro Bay Submission on Resource Consent for Landfill - Owhiro Bay Residents Association
- Ali Forrest 'Zero Waste' WCC Presentation - Owhiro Bay Residents Association
- Alison Forrest | Facebook
- OBRA WCC Presentation
