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Dumpsite made valley ‘living hell’

Andrea Vance andrea.vance@stuff.co.nz

‘‘Betrayed and disappointed’’ locals are celebrating the closure of a cleanfill site – but are furious over a failure to deal with repeated consent breaches.

Wainuiomata neighbours have been locked in a frustrating battle with Hutt City Council over plans to expand the waste site, despite it being slated for closure in 2017. They lost the fight and say the intervening years have been marred by noise and dust pollution.

They also repeatedly raised concerns about the environmental impact of the tip, sited next to the Wainuiomata River. Residents claim plastic bottles, household waste, chemical containers and tyres were dumped there. Cleanfill dumps are permitted to accept only uncontaminated, nondecomposable inert material like soil, rock, brick, or concrete from construction and demolition work.

Sally-ann Moffat, of the Cleanfill Community Liaison Group, has lived opposite the dump for more than eight years. She said noise pollution turned the peaceful, bush-clad valley into ‘‘a living hell’’.

She and other residents mounted a legal challenge to fight the extension but resource consent was granted in December 2019. ‘‘I remain horrified that the floodplain of our river has been treated as a tip,’’ she said. ‘‘It was bad enough that council put the site there in 2010, telling us it was temporary, but it is a form of ecocide that this council would decide to expand the site ... how this council can talk about a climate emergency, environmental reforms and biodiversity issues and yet defend that decision is simply unfathomable.’’ Moffat said residents felt ‘‘betrayed and disappointed’’. She questioned whether there was a conflict of interest in the council both operating and regulating the site. ‘‘This council does not like any kind of scrutiny. The angry and defensive responses to affected residents daring to challenge them has been enormously enlightening and deeply disappointing.’’

Independent six-monthly audits show the site has repeatedly been deemed noncompliant with conditions set by the consent. In August 2020 – the first report since the extension was granted – auditors judged the cleanfill was ‘‘operating to a good standard of compliance’’.

But in February last year, the council – which operated the site through private contractor Dimac – was judged noncompliant. The site exceeded noise limits, with bulldozer activity and slamming of tailgates, and was not following monitoring requirements.

By July last year, the council was still non-compliant. The site breached noise limits and those on truck numbers.

The auditor also pointed to complaints from residents and issues raised on a site visit which included material being tracked into the road. The final report, in May this year, was most damning, and the council was identified as non-compliant in ‘‘several matters’’ including noise, hours of operation and unapproved operators disposing of waste.

The auditor pointed to a lack of consistency in logging complaints with residents, and said the community raised concerns about ‘‘the general level of communication from the cleanfill operator and council, breaches of privacy and confidentiality, site management (restoration), and unauthorised motorbike use’’.

The report noted a ‘‘low trust environment and high levels of tension’’ over operations. It said the council had not met its obligations on several occasions through the last period of audit.

Dimac referred questions to Hutt City Council. The council did not answer questions, instead providing a written statement which acknowledged instances of consent breaches.

‘‘Relevant enforcement action has been taken,’’ the council statement said. ‘‘This has included fining the operator infringement fees and instructing them to change practices to avoid re-occurrences of such instances. Apologies have been provided where such breaches have occurred.’’

It did not provide any details of fines. ‘‘Councils have dual legislated roles as the regulator and operator in a number of areas,’’ the statement said, pointing to projects such as the refurbishment of the Naenae Pool. ‘‘These functions are undertaken independently.’’

The site stopped receiving most materials earlier this year and will be replanted with native bush.

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2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281633898861588

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