11 July 2000

As the regional landfill is not likely to be opened until the middle of 2004, the Christchurch City Council is to seek an extension for the use of the Burwood landfill.

The City Services Committee decided today to recommend to the Council that resource consent be sought from May 2002 to May 2006 or until the new Canterbury landfill opens.

Also, the committee recommended that a revised landscaping plan for the Burwood site be drawn up.

The Council’s Waste Manager, Mike Stockwell, said that Transwaste Canterbury Ltd expected the regional landfill could open in mid-2004. But the chairman of the committee and of Transwaste, Cr. Denis O’Rourke, said no one knew when it would be open.

"But I don’t think it will be before 2004. We just do not know," he said.

Mr Stockwell said Burwood had sufficient capacity without breaching the current resource consent height restrictions until mid-2006.

However, the Burwood resource consent expired in mid-2002, he said.

Cr. Carole Evans said the Council needed to address the question of costs of rehabilitation of the Burwood landfill site.

Cr. O’Rourke agreed saying "something special" should be done on the site. "We should turn it into a community asset after significant consultation," he said.