08/06/2025
This is a smart and competent way to move forward - not only I hope towards a 2029 resource consent but to Hapu & Iwi ambitions of ecological restoration and better water drainage management that supports sustainable growth and mitigates flooding risk.
See link below for some pretty compelling reasons that the greater Hapu & Iwi led plan is the right investment for all.https://www.whanganui.govt.nz/files/assets/public/v/1/reports/kokohuia-wetland/council-meeting-presentation-kokohuia-wetland-project.pdf
‘Gaps in knowledge’
Council seeks funding to investigate former landfill site
Mike Tweed · June 9, 2025
A $440,000 investigation into remediating Whanganui’s former Balgownie landfill site is in the works, but the district council needs Government funding to get it under way.
The landfill, next to the Kokohuia Wetland in Castlecliff, opened in 1956 and was capped in 2001.
Council chief executive David Langford told a council meeting on May 28 the investigation would “diagnose if we have a problem”.
“This is about making sure we are acting in a responsible way as the owner of a historic landfill,” he said.
“These investigations may well turn up that there are no problems, or they’re relatively minor. Or, they could reveal something else.”
Langford said the first step was to study compliance monitoring and groundwater testing data, to see how well the landfill was performing.
“From there, you’ll get technical experts, engineers and subject matter experts involved. As soon as we’ve got information back from them, we’ll be reporting back to council.”
In a statement to the Chronicle, Whanganui District Council chief infrastructure officer Lance Kennedy said the council commissioned a report, received earlier this year, to compile historic information on the landfill as well as ongoing monitoring data.
That had “identified gaps in knowledge”, he said.
“Like thousands of historic landfills across New Zealand, the Balgownie landfill was not developed according to the modern standards we expect today.
“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.”
Kennedy said the site currently met consent requirements, but it was due to be reconsented in 2029.
“Standards since the consent was issued have advanced, so the council is commencing work to understand as much about the landfill as possible and what compliance will look like in future ahead of that process.”
A council report said it aimed to cover the cost of the investigation through 50% funding from the Ministry for the Environment’s (MfE’s) Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills fund.
“Early indications from MfE are that this project aligns with the funding criteria,” it said.
The other half would be funded from waste levies, meaning no impact on rates.
Kennedy said the impact of discharges from the landfill on the local environment, including surrounding waterways and wetlands, was central to the investigation.
“Based on regular monitoring, there are no issues that appear to need immediate remediation and water sampling to date has shown levels of contamination are within acceptable levels.
“We will be working with neighbours, local businesses and the wider community on what they want to see happen and what that costs.”
Langford said if the funding application was not successful, officers would “come back to council for a discussion about what we do next”.
A master plan to expand the Kokohuia Wetland, initiated by the Mokoia Catchment Rōpu, was presented to the council in March last year.
It includes turning the cap of the former landfill site into a recreation space that would also provide high ground in the event of a tsunami.
A council report at the time said the site had been fenced off from the community for decades, with some perimeter areas leased for commercial and farming use, and others used to store materials, including concrete, green waste, steel, and car bodies.
The landfill and current land uses had an impact on how the land was perceived by the community and on the environment, with open leachate drains and rubbish becoming exposed on the landfill edges during rain events, it said.
Kennedy said if Government funding was granted, the investigation was likely to begin in late 2025.
Wetlands project set to create ecological gem
Ambitious Kokohuia plan includes restoration and recreation
Mike Tweed · Mar 27, 2024
We’ll do the work together and we’ll find some answers that will inform how we go into the future. Council senior stormwater engineer Kritzo Venter
Expanded Kokohuia and Titoki wetland areas could include a range of cycleways and walkways, according to a new master plan for the area. A master plan, made after community workshops in 2012, 2013 and 2021, also suggests an ecological connection from the Whanganui River through to Kokohuia and Titoki and a wetland centre for education and research.
The cap of the former Balgownie landfill site could become a recreation space and would also provide high ground in the event of a tsunami.
Guiding the project is the Mokoia Catchment Rōpu, a collective of iwi and hapū, the Whanganui District Council and technical advisers.
Spokesman Ken Mair, of Ngāti Tū poho, told the council that historically, iwi and hapū had “been most disturbed” about the desecration of the area, especially the presence of the Balgownie landfill from 1956.
“[The wetland] was our food basket. It was where tuna (freshwater eels) came, it was where we collected kai, it was where the beautiful birds were,” Mair said.
“From our point of view, we’ve got a responsibility to ensure we look into the future of returning that area to what it was.”
Mair acknowledged advocates such as Tania Tangaroa, Te Kura o Kokohuia and Francis Ponga for the efforts they had already put into the project.
A report from the council’s three waters project engineer, Nikki Ni, said the final capping of the Balgownie landfill was completed in March 2001.
Some of the perimeter areas of the site were now being leased for commercial and farming use and some were being used to store materials including concrete, green waste, steel, and car bodies.
“The landfill and current land uses had an impact on how the land was perceived by the community and on the environment with open leachate drains and rubbish becoming exposed on the landfill edges during rain events,” it said.
“The site had been fenced off from the community for decades.”
Speaking to the Chronicle, council senior stormwater engineer Kritzo Venter said gas coming from the landfill site was monitored.
Reports showed very low emissions, if any.
“Any seepage is captured in leachate drains that go to the wastewater system and the treatment plant,” Venter said.
Consultation and engagement will determine whether the community wants to use the former landfill site.
“We’ll do the work together and we’ll find some answers that will inform how we go into the future.”
Venter told the council the Kokohuia area could be used strategically for water management.
It was the lowest spot in the catchment, he said.
“The catchment is substantial and all its flood waters would like to come and collect here, waiting for their turn to drain out.”
He said there were also opportunities upstream at the Titoki wetland, which could potentially be an even larger stormwater site.
“We’ve come across a very interesting picture that was drawn by a surveyor in 1844. It was called the Titoki Lake.
“It’s a huge expanse, maybe 20 hectares, and that is potentially what could be used for stormwater management.”
That was just one component of the project, Venter said.
“What it does for the community, and what the community can leverage off it, is what makes it a really
exciting vision,” he said.
The Titoki and Kokohiua wetland areas, which are connected by an underground pipe, cover around 60ha and stretch from just south of the Fitzherbert Rd extension to the Whanganui River.
Councillor Rob Vinsen asked if there was budget for the project in the council’s upcoming long-term plan.
He said Kokohuia was the most important project for the Whanganui community because it improved the environment, recreation, aesthetics and resilience.
Venter said there were provisions for stormwater developments in the plan but not for “many of the other elements”.
“In saying that, we recognise this project is likely to attract a lot of interest from other sources.
“One of the next steps is to go and do some proper homework on what other partners and funding sources can be tapped into.
“We would need the community to collaborate on that, and through our Rō pu group, we will explore that.”
Vinsen said the Balgownie site was currently an embarrassment.
“We are only saved from the embarrassment because we don’t see it. Very few people take a walk around that particular area.
“This is our opportunity, and it’s good to hear that Kritzo has some funding for this.
“Obviously it won’t be enough and that is something, politically, I think we need to address.”
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