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Protect the Wainuiomata River Environment

  • Other potential site options

      22 October 2019
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    Hutt City Council are once again claiming in the media that the Wainuiomata floodplain site is the 'only current option'.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/116741219/wainuiomata-cleanfill-could-create-an-environmental-disaster-like-west-coast

    Here is a solution: other options for development waste instead of next to the Wainuiomata River include (and are not limited to) the Southern Landfill, Dry Creek Cleanfill, and the Silverstream Landfill.

    I submitted an OIA request to HCC and as a result have discovered that HCC have not looked at other cleanfill site options, despite knowing that the Wainui site was nearly at capacity. This is because HCC were expecting this consent to simply be granted by now and now they are expecting the upcoming hearing to be a walk-over. Hence HCC have already offered and contracted use of the Wainui site to developers.

    The OIA also reveals that HCC's reason for not using the Southern Landfill is that they don't want all those trucks to go along Petone foreshore. That's it. That's the reason. So it's ok for huge and heavy trucks to drive up the Wainui hill and through Wainuiomata - past schools & kindys. But not ok for them to drive through Petone. I get it. Imagine the outcry and the damage to the road. So why is Wainui different? This is classism. Class discrimination pure and simple.

    What can you do? Call, email and write letters to Council, ask your local Councillor and Community Boards to take action and complain about this lack of concern for the environment and this terrible treatment of the Wainuiomata community. Donate to our Give-A-little page so that we have the funds to pursue this issue and hold all those responsible to account.

      1 comment  |  Login to leave a comment

    • 23/10/2019 by Stephanie

      Oh dear. Thanks for the update. If you have an example of email I could send with a summary of the issues I’d be grateful and would use it. Thanks

  • This kid, he gets it.

      12 September 2019
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    In the ‘Letters to the Editor’ in this weeks Wainui News a 15 year old kid has succinctly grasped and articulated the issue of the so-called Cleanfill and is asking Council to stop.

    He gets it. What can’t Council stop and look at what they are doing to our awa?

    Thank you Justin.

    Keep spreading the word, keep asking your friends and whanau for donations to help protect Wainuiomata River.

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  • We submit.

      17 August 2019
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    Saturday at 3:52pm we deposited our submissions through the ‘after hours’ slot at the Hutt City Council offices.

    All the hours of research and preparation have gone into this moment.

    We hope we have captured all the points that so many of you have contacted us to raise.

    Thanks to those that gave us support, advice, photos, leads and of course donations.

    Once we have recovered from this hard task we are onto the next stage.

    Hosting a public meeting and prepping plus working with experts to present and support our submission at the hearing.

    What an achievement so far.

    Thank you to you all.

    We couldn’t have done it without your support.

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  • Wainuiomata River - a listed Water of National Importance

      14 August 2019
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    The Wainuiomata River is a listed Water of National Importance. The river winds its way through the valley and ends in a lagoon. The lower river and its wetlands cover 60 hectares of spectacular wild terrain.

    Wainuiomata River contains many species of native fish that have a “declining” status including the long finned eel, inanga (whitebait), lamprey, giant and red fin bully and giant kokopu.

    Birds living in the area include the nationally threatened grey duck, the uncommon black shag, and the black swan and paradise shelduck. There is also a freshwater mussel population.

    Greater Wellington Regional Council and Friends of Baring Head are working hard to restore the lower area of the Wainuiomata River and support its exceptional ecological values and help its many threatened species to thrive.

    The river is unique in the region because it is fully connected to its flood plain and tributaries. There are no dams or catchment works which disrupt its flow.

    However, historic deforestation and grazing have resulted in shading loss, bank erosion and loss of river edge habitat. Fish spawning sites and mussel habitat have also been negatively affected by sediment.

    The river is impacted by upstream changes, which have altered overall hydrology (e.g. frequency and size of floods) and water quality.

    Guess what else is upstream? Lower Hutt City Council's Wainuiomata Cleanfill.

    *Credit to Friends of Baring Head for much of this information

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  • Mayor’s ‘Personal Undertaking’

      13 August 2019
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    Reading a Resource Consent Application and AEE is not for the light hearted. This document is about an inch thick and filled with technical jargon plus the occasional gem.

    People have enquired if the Mayor knew about the Cleanfill extension and the expansion in Wainuiomata?

    The answer is yes.

    Here is his and the then CE’s ‘personal undertaking’ regarding regulatory requirements which is in the Wainuiomata Cleanfill Expansion application document.

    The letter was written in November 2018.

    Hope this is helpful. Submissions are due in at 5pm tomorrow. Better get back to the computer.

    Thanks for your donations, calls, photos and support. We can’t thank you enough.

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  • Compliance

      11 August 2019
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    “Compliance by councils is important because of the scale and potential effects of their activities on the environment. Councils should also lead by example and hold themselves to the same (or higher) standard than the public in order to be credible as regulators. Internal compliance is particularly important for unitary councils, as there is no other council in their area to monitor compliance and hold them accountable for their decisions”. (Local Authority Act 1968)

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  • Unauthorised dumping witnessed at Wainuiomata Cleanfill.

      5 August 2019
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    One of Council's claims in the article on the weekend was "As part of the conditions of granting the consent, all loads to the cleanfill are to be from customers approved by the operator."

    If that claim was in fact true how is it possible that this member of the public was photographed in the Wainuiomata Cleanfill dumping their own rubbish?

    Looks like a consent breach to me. What do you think? If you agree, please consider sharing our givealittlepage with your friends & colleagues and ask them to donate so that we can stop this (potentially) non-compliant cleanfill in its tracks.

    This image was supplied to both the Mayor and the CE of Hutt City Council in late 2018.

      3 comments  |  Login to leave a comment

    • 05/08/2019 by Adam

      Could you please explain how this was unauthorised and where’s the photos of the rubbish???how do u know it was rubbish??

    • 05/08/2019 by Sally-ann Moffat

      Hi Adam H

      Thanks for your question. The RM170015 resource consent point 3.2.5 states: Commercial material is only accepted from accredited commercial operators, which ensures the material being bought into the facility meets the acceptance criteria for cleanfill materials. It goes on to say that non-cleanfill materials are refused entry.

      This is only one of the many photos and video footage we have of this event. Other photos show the dumped items more clearly.

      We hope that answers your questions sufficiently.

      Cheers,

    • 06/08/2019 by Adam

      Under the ministry of environment 4.2.2 “waste acceptance criteria” it states that plastics are typically “Inert” and that small quantities of plastics are acceptable” and that glass is also acceptable and poses no threat to the environment as it’s also “Inert” as to the liquid waste I’ve personally been into the tip a number of times and have only ever seen the Liquid contained due to the tip having very good containment and sediment control....getting to the pollution of the river I hunt the area behind the tip frequently and have never seen any sign of any silt or pollution escape into the river....I’d be more worried about what pollution happens upstream from the urban folks of Wainuiomata

  • Wainuiomata Cleanfill images

      2 August 2019
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    I've updated the gallery with images of the Cleanfill and the road leading to and from the Cleanfill.

    They tell the story of this Cleanfill much better than I can.

    This wider view of the dumped plastic and glass bottles in our GiveALittle header sets the scene perfectly.

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