However, hope remains the project will not go ahead.
South Coast Neighbourhood Society spokeswoman Sarah Ramsay said in a statement yesterday the society did not believe the planned landfill at Smooth Hill was a forgone conclusion,
"The consent is just one step in a long road," Mrs Ramsay said.
"While this is the end of the legal road, we stand by our position that this landfill should not go ahead.
"We were simply unable to match the DCC’s access to the Goliath public purse for a prolonged Environmental Court process."
The society revealed last month the council had spent more than $5 million making plans for the municipal landfill over the past few years.
The council said, on Tuesday, now that the society’s appeal of last year’s consent approval had been resolved, work would continue on the project.
The society said yesterday the work would include developing budgets to meet consent conditions "which add a lot more complexity and cost, to the point that we remain unconvinced that the project will be feasible".
"Designated 30 years ago and rushed in before national freshwater legislation, experts on all sides agreed that it is impossible to categorically rule out the risk of things like liner failure, leachate seepage, fires and bio-accumulation.
"Through mediation we’ve been able to impose new, tighter conditions on these issues and to give the community liaison group more power to hold DCC to account throughout the design, construction, life and aftercare of the landfill."
Otokia Creek and Marsh Habitat Trust chairman Simon Laing, who was present at the mediation as a member of the society, said there was not a lot he could say after the confidential meeting last month.
Mr Laing said if the proposal was looked at through the lens of 2023 rather than the 1990s, when the site was designated, "more suitable alternatives would be available".
"That’s still our position but we were advised that the court probably was not the place to [argue] that and we were going to spend a lot of the community’s money to possibly get a worse result than what we got at the mediation."
The decision to go ahead with the project, or not, would be a political one, for elected officials to make, he said.
"Should the council pull the trigger on it, it’s Dunedin that will pay the cost, whether it’s ecological, or financial — because it’s going to be expensive."
In a statement this week, council chief executive Sandy Graham said the formation of the community liaison group would be one of the council’s next steps.
The group would be an important conduit between the council and the community.
"The new group will ensure we have open and constructive dialogue with our community regarding the landfill’s development and operation, which is important.
"We will continue to work with our community in a range of ways to keep people updated and listen to their concerns."
