DCC not commenting on new Winton tip

EVEN after a central Southland megalandfill’s expansion was approved last week, the Dunedin City Council will not say if the regional waste facility will be a factor in its own uncertain plans for the city’s rubbish.

AB Lime, near Winton, has been given consent to operate, without any limit on the amount of waste it can take for the next 25 years.

Similar to the Kate Valley Landfill, in Canterbury, waste will be taken to the central Southland landfill from all over the southern South Island.

Meanwhile, the Dunedin council’s application for a new landfill near Brighton remains on hold nearly a year after it was lodged with the Otago Regional Council. The consent for its present Green Island landfill is set to expire in 2023.

Council waste and environmental solutions group manager Chris Henderson said options for exporting waste, the associated financial impacts and the immediate future of the Green Island landfill were all still being considered.

The council was not yet in a position to comment further, he said.

A date for the city council's response to a second request for additional information on the Brighton landfill consent application had not been set.

But a consent application for the Green Island landfill was required before the expiry of current consents in 2023, irrespective of whether the landfill was closed or remained in use, Mr Henderson said.

Investigations into the potential remaining life of the Green Island landfill were ongoing and no decision had been made on whether the council would seek to extend its operational use, he said.