Whanganui’s former Balgownie landfill site faces detailed investigation

The Balgownie landfill was capped in 2001. Photo / NZME

The state of Whanganui’s former Balgownie landfill site will soon be revealed, with investigative work beginning in March.

In November, the Whanganui District Council put a listing on the Government Electronic Tenders Service website calling for “suitably qualified and experienced suppliers” to complete a detailed site investigation.

The landfill opened in 1956 and was capped in March 2001, with waste now transported to Bonny Glen landfill, near Turakina.

Council waste manager Morgan Harrison said there was a shortlist of applicants for the investigation work, but the council could not confirm the outcome of an application for government funding.

The investigation is expected to cost $440,000, with the council aiming to secure 50% of that from the Ministry for the Environment’s Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund.

“We will have a better understanding of costs in the coming months once a supplier is on board,” Harrison said.

The council’s share of the funding will come from waste levies.

She said the council was not sure what to expect at the site and it “would not want to make any assumptions”.

“The detailed site investigation is to understand what, if any, issues are there.”

In June 2024, council chief infrastructure officer Lance Kennedy said the site met consent requirements, but it was due to be reconsented in 2029.

“Like thousands of historic landfills across New Zealand, the Balgownie landfill was not developed according to the modern standards we expect today," he said.

“As the landfill was developed over many decades, some of the landfill reaches beyond the boundaries of the reserve, under private industrial land and road reserve.”

The council monitors gas coming from the site, which has been fenced off for decades, with seepage captured in leachate drains.

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.