Landfill opponents trying to raise cash for fight

The Brighton community group trying to stop plans for a landfill at Smooth Hill is trying to raise $43,000 to pay for the lawyers and consultants it says it needs to level the playing field at next month’s formal hearings.

When submissions closed on the Dunedin City Council’s landfill proposal last year the 283 submissions were overwhelmingly against the plan.

However, after the hearing date and venue were confirmed by the Otago Regional Council earlier this year the regional council said only 29 speakers had indicated they wanted to speak before the panel of independent decision-makers at the Dunedin Centre in May.

Now a Givealittle page set up by the South Coast Neighbourhood Society has raised $7500 towards its $43,000 goal to pay for expert witnesses and legal representation.

"Unfortunately, the best experts in the game don’t come for free," society secretary Simon Laing said.

"And we don’t have a choice really.

"This is the way the system works," he said.

"It’s no longer a numbers game - it’s about quality," the society’s Givealittle page says.

The contentious landfill plan has been in the public eye since a string of community hall meetings in Brighton in July two years ago.

Among the concerns the community has raised are fears about leachate entering Otokia Creek and spoiling Brighton Beach where it lets out to sea.

A Stop the Landfill Writeathon was held at the Brighton Rugby Club during the submissions period.

At that time, both the Saddle Hill Community Board and Labour’s Taieri MP, Ingrid Leary, voiced their opposition to the plan.

Now the society says its environmental consultants have identified 12 areas of concern in the city council’s application.

The hearings are due to begin on May 16.