Ōmarunui Landfill: Hawke’s Bay’s largest dump set to accept 4000 tonnes of Wairoa’s solid waste per annum for three years

Rubbish being compacted at Omarunui Landfill in 2020. Photo / Warren Buckland

Plans that will see Wairoa’s excess waste trucked to Hawke’s Bay’s largest landfill on a temporary basis to ease the burden caused by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle are one step closer to being firmed up.

Members of the Ōmarunui Refuse Landfill Joint Committee chose on Friday to accept Wairoa District Council’s request for the site to take on 4000 tonnes per annum of Wairoa’s solid waste for a period of up to three years.

The Ōmarunui Refuse Landfill Joint Committee includes representatives from Hastings and Napier District Councils and mana whenua.

Wairoa Landfill currently receives about 3000 tonnes of rubbish each year and, at current rates, the tip on Fraser St will be full in 2026.

Waste from both the recent Wairoa flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle had significantly increased the burden on the small tip and prompted the need for an urgent solution.

With a new temporary system in place, the intent is that Wairoa’s tip will still service the community, but it will function as a transfer station instead of a landfill.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said council were “over the moon” and thankful to the work of the committee who made the decision as it would greatly help the region as it continued to recover.

“We’ve found ourselves in a real untenable position with the two monumental floods we’ve had and the waste we’ve generated out of that.

“We needed an interim solution moving forward, and all I can do is pass on my gratitude to the committee.”

Little said it was “emotional” for the council and the people of Wairoa because having a solution meant a lot to them.

“We’re very grateful because we found ourselves in a corner that we didn’t really create ourselves.”

Little told Hawke’s Bay Today in February this year that Cyclone Gabrielle had resulted in an influx of rubbish being dropped to the landfill, which had sped up the need to make a decision.

He said, “it seems incredible”, but the cost of trucking rubbish down State Highway 2 was cheaper than building a new landfill cell.

Moving forward, Little said Wairoa District Council would work with stakeholders to determine the best way to proceed.

“Obviously we don’t want to be sending stuff down to their landfill that they don’t really want. We want to be a sensible landfill user as well, we’re like the guest and we will be the honourable guest to them.”

He said council didn’t want to “put all our eggs in one basket” either.

“They’re going to come up and get some systems in place. We can still use our landfill, so we will now just be working with them over a transition period.”

A big project is also currently being undertaken at Ōmarunui Landfill to open a new dumping site - known as Area B.

That dumping site will be large enough to take rubbish for another 30 years. There is also room at Ōmarunui Landfill for further expansion in the long run.