Frustration at council view on ‘benign’ coastal landfill

A southern council says it needs to "draw the line" with a community over its old dumpsite.

At Colac Bay/Ōraka, 40 minutes west of Invercargill, a former landfill sits behind a crumbling coastal road next to the ocean.

Affidavits signed by past and present residents claim the site is home to a range of hazards including car bodies, batteries, oil and herbicides.

But how the site should be managed appears to have reached an impasse with the council saying there’s no imminent threat while others demand action.

Sediment testing in the area conducted by Southland District Council in October showed "everything’s fine", strategic manager water and waste Grant Isaacs said last week.

Isaacs made the comments in response to a question from councillor Derek Chamberlain, who was present at a September council meeting held at Colac Bay/Ōraka.

"The sediment tests are about what you’d expect," Isaacs said.

"We’ll go back out to the community I think, and have a chat. And I think we need to draw the line on what we do there. "We’ve spent a lot of money."

Isaacs took exception to previous coverage of the dumpsite in the media, saying it didn’t represent the effort the council had gone to.

"There’s been a lot of work done there. It's pretty conclusive that it is a pretty benign domestic landfill."

The site wouldn’t be a problem unless erosion ate into it, but that would be 50 to 100 years away, he said.

Isaacs’ comments have not been taken well by Deen McKay — a nearby resident of Colac Bay/Ōraka who has been in discussions with the council over the landfill for about 10 years.

McKay described what Isaacs said as "quite ludicrous" and took exception to the belief the landfill had up to 100 years left.

"He obviously has no idea of the rate of erosion and the impact of the tidal action and possible storm events," she said.

McKay also believed that because the old dumpsite had multiple entry points, rubbish was buried in a wider vicinity than people realised.

While the remains of the crumbling Colac Bay Foreshore Rd provided some protection from the ocean, there were fears that would only last so long.

"Once the sea reaches that remaining road they’ll have no time to do anything."

Southland mayor Rob Scott said he hoped the next step of meeting with the community would lead to everyone being on the same page going forward.

He was pleased sediment testing had come back clear, but said the site would still be monitored regularly.

The historic landfill sits on land now owned by Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka, who have been contacted multiple times but are yet to provide a comment.

 - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air