Levin Landfill Closure
with Horowhenua District Council & Community | MANAWATŪ-WHANGANUI
The why!
This complex project sought to balance the economic, cultural and environmental impacts of closing the 50-year-old Horowhenua District Council landfill against the benefits of keeping it open. The landfill is adjacent to Punahau | Lake Horowhenua, one of the most polluted freshwater lakes in the country.
Local community groups and hapū representatives sought help from TCG to draw attention to the state of the landfill and its effects on the Hōkio Stream, which runs past the landfill and into Punahau. The primary goal was closure of the landfill, followed by remediation and sustainable management of the landfill site.
How did we assist?
In this multi-year project, Greg Carlyon acted as an independent chair of a review hearing; then assisted iwi and community through a challenging Environment Court process; lead the negotiation of a landmark settlement document between the key parties, and then more recently, has been appointed as project manager of the Levin Landfill Management Group (LLMG) which was setup to seek resolution to the remediation issues.
What happened?
In 2023 the landfill was permanently closed, and the community (via the LLMG) is now working through the issues associated with capturing and treating leachate and discharging of that in a more acceptable way.