There's a stink brewing over a Horowhenua District Council (HDC) majority decision this week to pause the official closure of a rubbish dump near Hokio Beach.
The decision to delay closing the Hokio Beach landfill for a further six months flies in the face of expensive consultant reports and the wishes of the community, and has raised the ire of a working party that recommended the landfill close this year.
HDC entered into the Levin Landfill Agreement in 2019 in response to the landfill not meeting Resource Management Act consents, and a working group of affected parties and council staff was formed to resolve those issues, in lieu of potential litigation.
Working party project manager Greg Carlyon, who also assisted a Parliamentary commission of inquiry into the landfill 10 years ago, said the decision to delay closure was disappointing.
Carlyon said the working group had worked towards bringing affected parties and the community together to achieve solutions and it was "hugely disappointing" to see their recommendations abandoned.
He said he attended the meeting and was saddened the issue turned political.
David Moore protesting for the immediate closure of the Levin landfill in October.
David Moore, the Pareraukawa iwi delegate to that same working party, said 95 per cent of the 150 respondents during a public consultation round in January wanted the Levin landfill closed.
Moore said HDC had spent more than $1million with consultants Morrisons Solutions and he couldn't believe their recommendation to close the landfill in 2022 was also ignored.
After four hours of debate, HDC voted to delay the decision until incoming chief executive Monique Davidson had the opportunity to provide her own evaluation on the complex matter.
Davidson starts the job in two weeks and would be expected to have a recommendation back to council within six months.
Moore said it was a "hospital pass" for the incoming CEO, and was also concerned it was due to be revisited around the same time as the Local Body Elections in October.
"It's just kicking the can down the road for another six months," he said.
Horowhenua Mayor Bernie Wanden and councillors Sam Jennings, Wayne Bishop, Piri-Hira Tukapua, David Allan, Todd Isaac and Ross Brannigan were the seven-to-four majority in favour of the motion, which Bishop moved and Jennings seconded.
Councillors Robert Ketu, Christine Mitchell, Victoria Kaye-Simmons and deputy mayor Jo Mason voted against the motion.
Mayor Wanden, who supported the initial recommendation to close the landfill this year, said the council was just too fractured on the issue and he hoped more time would achieve a consensus.
"The process has been exhaustive. The future of the Levin landfill is a complex and difficult matter and something that has been the topic of contention for years... the best outcome from tonight was to delay the decision until we're able to reach a consensus around the table," he said.
Pareraukawa Moore, 12, from Otaki, protesting outside Horowhenua District Council in October last year.
"While we weren't able to reach a consensus, it was heartening to hear councillors discuss the need for a unified focus on waste minimisation and how together as a community reducing our solid waste needs to be our priority."
