A solution may have been found to the problem of rubbish leaking out from Hampden's old dump.
As the sea erodes the former landfill, rubbish is being washed out of about a 60m-long face of the dump.
It ends up on the coast, then is carried north by the sea and on to Hampden beach.
It is an issue that the Waitaki District Council has been trying to find a solution to for years but has been held up in recent times by a resource consent application to the Otago Regional Council that requires input from the Department of Conserva-tion.
Yesterday, the three organisations met in Dunedin to discuss finding a solution to the problem.
Waitaki District Council assets group manager Neil Jorgensen said the group agreed "in principal" to a solution that "might work".
It involved constructing the rock bunding that the district council had originally wanted as it was a long-term solution, but with provisions in the consent to allow it to retreat with the coast, mitigating Doc's concerns about it standing out from the coast as erosion took place, he said.
"We've found a way forward."
The district council would now amend its consent application and re-submit it to the regional council for consideration.
