A 1954 photograph shows the condition of the Ocean Beach
Domain, St Kilda, during an inspection by members of the
Ocean Beach Domain Board and a subcommittee of the Otago
Centre, New Zealand Athletic Association. Pictured: L.
Wraight (board foreman), R. M. Carroll (Athletic Centre
president), F. R. Grindley (board secretary), J. J. Marlow
(board chairman), L. F. Bradshaw and J. W. Holley
(subcommittee members). Photo: Evening Star Collection.
The Dunedin City Council is going in search of an old
landfill buried near St Kilda and St Clair beaches, to ensure
the tip and its contents are not exposed by a repeat of severe
coastal erosion in the area.
Council business development team leader Greg Sligo told the
Otago Daily Times the old landfill was buried near Moana Rua
Rd - between St Kilda and St Clair beaches - and was used
from the early 1900s to the late 1940s.
It had largely been forgotten about, until severe coastal
erosion in the area in 2007 prompted an emergency council
response and more detailed planning of ways to protect the
area in future.
Mr Sligo is a member of the council's Ocean Beach project
team, which was established last year to consider the many
reports and studies undertaken since 2007 to aid the planning
process.
One of the reports identified the existence of the landfill,
but not its exact size or location, he said.
That was now part of the work of the project team.
Mr Sligo presented a progress report to a meeting of the
council's community development committee in Dunedin last
week.
The report warned "considerable quantities" of trade waste
and household and garden rubbish had been buried in the old
landfill, but the exact nature of the materials and their
location was not yet known.
There was a risk continued erosion in the area could expose
the landfill and, depending on the type of waste, contaminate
the area, the report said.
However, Mr Sligo said when contacted yesterday the risk was
"minuscule".
It was believed there was at least 40m of land between the
old tip and the sea, and the landfill was likely buffered by
hard fill along its seaward edge, and a clay cap under the
sand but on top of the landfill, he said.
Sand-replenishment work undertaken by the council since 2007
had also proven effective in protecting the area, he said.
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