Port Otago received resource consent this week, albeit with a string of conditions attached, and there is a 15-day appeal period.
Remedial earthwork, in the form of cliff benching, is required below Flagstaff Hill overlooking Port Chalmers, removing about 45,000cu m of rock over up to 12 months, equating to about 4500 truck movements.
The stability and subsequent benching of Flagstaff Hill has been a bone of contention for several decades for some local residents, since the early 1990s when Port Otago first removed some of the hill’s base, some of which was used for reclamation work at Back Beach.
Two submissions supported the proposal, one opposed and one was neutral.
The DCC’s planners had recommended Port Otago get consent.
While the 17-page decision had numerous regulatory conditions, the panel set down that work could only be done between 7.30am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday, and none at all on public holidays.
All spoil must be removed by truck via Beach St, direct to George St then to State Highway 88, but the panel suggested Port Otago also consider options by rail or barge.
Port Otago spokesman Peter Brown was contacted and said the excavated material would be removed and transported to either a disposal site, or to a storage area.
"Port Otago will enter into discussions with contractors who may either as part of an existing or upcoming project have a use for the material," Mr Brown said.
He said the transport mode would be dependent on end use of the material, the location of the disposal site, the contractor used, cost, and excavation methods.
He said all options including rail and barging would be considered, but said opportunities to barge the material might be "somewhat limited".
Unusually, with only one residence close by in Aurora Tce, the panel suggested because of noise issues Port Otago consider paying for double glazing, which because of other port operations, the homeowner had already installed.
Mr Brown said discussions and agreements reached with homeowners were treated as confidential, and declined to comment further on the Aurora Tce circumstances.
He noted noise levels during the overall project would be managed within the "construction noise standards" required.
The consent said any rock blasting must not be closer than 100m to any residence, with limits on blasting times, and with 48 hours’ notice.
Port Otago must have a traffic management plan and all landscaping works must be completed within a year of the project finishing.
Concerns had been raised about the landscaping of the hill and visual impact by some submitters.
The consent said for the five years after the project, plants which died had to be replaced and weed had to be managed.
It said Port Otago’s landscaping plan had to include species, spacing, plus care and maintenance.
The decision said work must stop immediately if any Maori artefacts are uncovered, or any pre-1900 archaeological material is found.
