Dump study & consents may cost $800,000

Ruapehu Bulletin, 14 December 1993, Page 1

Dump study & consents may cost $800,000

Planning the Ruapehu District' s rubbish management is going to involve a lot more work and may cost $800,000 between now and 1997. In a report to the council to be considered at their meeting on Friday, technical services director Bruce Dobson said the work required to carry out waste management studies for the District Solid Waste Management Strategy and gaining the necessary resource consents would be "consid-" erably more extensive that initially anticipated." He said the council had envisaged retaining all landfills, carrying out various improvements to make them acceptable. "However the response from the Regional Council... has established that the level of work proposed ... Management Plans will not be acceptable. More extensive investigations are required to determine the environmental impact each facility imposes on the surrounding country The estimate for the council' s plans was $120,000, but that work was "subject to the adoption of the Management Plans". There are four critical dates for the council' s Resource Consent applications (the council must apply for consent to operate its 13 landfill sites). The council' s draft resource consent application must be submitted by 31 March 1994; its landfills must have resource consents by 1 October 1994; and, under the Regional Council' s regional policy statement: promotes the closure of landfills with significant adverse effects by 1 October 1997, and 'ensure' the closure of landfills with significant

adverse effects by 30 June 2000. Mr Dobson said it must be realised that the costs involved in developing the management strategy do not include physical works, apart from "preliminary mitigating wOrks". Mr Dobson gives "minimum" and "desirable" expenditure figures over the next three to four years. They cover: □ In 1993/94: development of the management strategy and documents and public meetings for 1993/94 $20,000 (minimum), $70,000 (desirable); 1994/95: District Solid Waste Management Strategy, land fill site investigations and preliminary mitigating works, $439,000 (minimum), $527,000 (desirable). 1995/96: District Solid Waste Management Strategy and landfill site investigations: $206,000. 1996/97: District Solid Waste Management Strategy and landfill sit$ investigations: $138,000. The resource consent process would cover: public consultation, physical investigation, consent application and related hearings, any required remedial work on the landfill sites to "mitigate any environmental impacts". Mr Dobson said with a 2 percent return of a recent questionnaire "Disposing of our Rubbish", the "public and the Tangata Whenua want to be heavily involved in the resource consent process."