Call on housing

Community housing review is needed in Palmerston, Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton has told the Waihemo Community Board.

Many Palmerston senior citizens were renting elsewhere in town, with only 11 of the council's 22 housing units occupied by older people, he said.

Because of the lack of demand for pensioner housing in Palmerston, the Waitaki District Council could consider selling half the units, Waitaki District Council property manager Dougall McIntyre said in a report.

The Waihemo Service Centre team leader would conduct a survey of Palmerston unit tenants to gauge their requirements, he said.

Tenants would be consulted and kept informed as discussions progressed.

• Moeraki landfill: The Waitaki District Council might arrange for a contractor to clear the now-closed Moeraki landfill site of all illegally dumped rubbish.

The rubbish and residue from illegal fires should be transported off site and disposed of at a suitable location, council solid waste officer Gerry O'Neill recommended in a report.

He said the council and the Waihemo Community Board should work together to secure a "long-term solution" for the former dump site.

Mr O'Neill also recommended the council invite local media to visit the site to raise public awareness of the issues at the Moeraki closed landfill.

The Waihemo Community Board also recommended that the opening hours of the nearest transfer station, at Hampden, be displayed near the former Moeraki landfill.