The Waitaki District Council is still awaiting approval from the Otago Regional Council before it can fix the Hampden landfill, which is leaching rubbish into the sea.
Heavy seas have eroded about a 60m-long face on the beach between the Moeraki boulders and Hampden beach and the council applied to the regional council for resource consent to seal it.
But the Department of Conservation (Doc) was not happy with the method proposed, delaying work, while heavy seas continued the erosion.
Agreement was reached in May between the Waitaki council and Doc after discussion on various options to resolve the problem, and a new proposal was put to the regional council.
The Waitaki council's assets group manager, Neil Jorgensen, said on Tuesday work could not start until resource consent was received from the regional council.
The Waitaki council hoped to start work on the landfill face as soon as possible after consent was received, depending on weather and ground conditions.
Doc wanted to protect a "cone-in-cone" geological formation buried in the landfill.
The proposal now is to put in a semi-permanent rock protection, but it will have to be picked up and moved back every 20 years or so as the coast erodes.
