The consenting process for a proposed Oxford landfill has been delayed further, with a decision now not expected before May.
The application from Woodstock Quarries Ltd to develop a landfill at 513 Trigg Road, View Hill, near Oxford, which was first submitted in 2021, has caused widespread community concern.
Independent commissioners instructed the applicant on December 22 to provide an updated consent application to ‘‘identify all changes made’’ since the previous version dated August 29.
The applicant then has until March 15 to provide further information to questions from the commissioners, including providing ‘‘the outcomes of expert caucusing on engineering drawings’’.
Woodstock Quarries Ltd submitted five resource consent applications to Environment Canterbury, and a land use consent with the Waimakariri District Council, to expand an existing hard rock quarry, and to develop a landfill for disposal of construction and demolition waste, contaminated soils and special wastes.
‘‘As a community board we were very disappointed by the most recent delay.’’
Woodstock Quarries Ltd director Darryn Shepherd said his company began the process five years ago, conducting investigations and preparing the application.
‘‘May is only another four months, so it will fly by and hopefully we will get a result.
‘‘If we are fortunate and we are granted a consent it will do a lot of good for the community.’’
Mr Shepherd said there had been a range of views expressed by the community.
‘‘Right at the start we had some nasty, personal stuff sent through to us, but everyone has the right to have an opinion.’’
Around 400 submissions were received, with opponents questioning the need for another landfill when the Kate Valley Landfill had plenty of capacity and the Burwood Resource Recovery Park landfill in Christchurch was closed in 2019 due to a lack of use.
Formal hearings, which ended in September, left residents frustrated as they felt the process was weighted heavily in favour of the applicant, which kept adapting the application.
‘‘Throughout this consenting process the community has been bombarded by new information, which has made it hard for the community to counter,’’ Mr Robson said at the time.
The community board submitted against the landfill, raising five main concerns - traffic effects, fire safety, dust, operational logistics and amenity effects.
Trigg Road was also a busy school bus route.
It would create access issues for emergency services, including fire engines, while Oxford was a high wind zone and vulnerable to dust contamination.
Mr Shepherd said he understood the concerns, but he was confident the landfill would be safe.
‘‘We have always said at the start, we are not going to do anything that’s unsafe or will prevent our children taking over the operation one day.’’
Once the applicant has responded to the commissioners’ questions, submitters will have until April 5 to make comment.
The applicant will have a right of reply by April 19, before the commissioners close the hearing, with a decision expected 15 working days later.
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
