U-turn on Okura River 'cleanfill' site

By ANNE BESTON

Council staff have withdrawn objections to a controversial dump without telling the elected councillors who had turned down the project.

Auckland Regional councillors Mike Lee and Brian Smith sat on a hearings committee earlier this year that declined plans for a 33ha "cleanfill" site at the head of the Okura River.

The councillors found out about the staff backdown only when a public submitter on the project queried it.

Local residents and North Shore City Council opposed to the dump had been "left hanging out to dry", Mr Lee said.

The Okura catchment drained into the Okura River directly south of Okura-Long Bay Marine Reserve and was one of the most valuable estuaries in the Auckland region.

"It's in a coastal protection area near a marine reserve. You couldn't find a more environmentally sensitive area outside a national park," he said.

Although ARC staff initially recommended the cleanfill be declined, they were persuaded to withdraw opposition after dump company Bral Holdings said it would appeal against the hearings committee's decision in the Environment Court with a revamped system for sediment treatment.

"I personally would say we were right in the decision we made at the hearing," said Mr Smith. "But with Bral saying it has fixed the sediment issue, it would be hard to argue."

ARC staffer Kerry Connolly, director of environmental management, called the situation "unfortunate".

"In their enthusiasm to get a better environmental outcome, staff lost sight of the fact the politicians had made a decision to decline the consent," he said.

Okura catchment falls within both Rodney District and North Shore City with the ARC having responsibility for environmental effects, but the dump site is within Rodney's boundaries.

After a major ruling in the Environment Court last year, North Shore City adopted a "no more dumps in Okura" policy but neighbouring Rodney declined to do the same and has given land-use consent for the cleanfill.

North Shore councillor Tony Holman said his council would fight on despite the lack of support.

"This makes a nonsense of what we're trying to do. The cleanfill will have an impact on the estuary."

Material dumped at the site could include fibrolite, building demolition materials and clay, he said.

Residents against the dump would also continue their opposition, said Keep Okura Green spokesman Dave Johnson. He said promises by Bral Holdings to deal with the sediment problem would not work.

Bral Holdings wants to build a new road and dump around 280,000cu m of fill over a 6ha area, double the amount of an earlier application by another company which formerly owned the site. It has applied for a 10-year consent.