My Account
Waste Management GM Ian Kennedy.
William Kapea, of Ngāti Rango.
A protestor held signs at the hearing.
Panel chair, Sheena Tepania.
Waste Management (WM) had the opportunity to reply to submissions against its proposed Dome Valley landfill late last month, and its relationship with iwi was centre stage.
WM general manager Ian Kennedy began the two-day reply by responding to criticism that it had failed to consult with iwi.
Mr Kennedy said that he was surprised by Ngāti Manuhiri chairman Mook Hohneck’s comments that his iwi had always known the Dome Valley was the wrong place for a landfill.
He listed upwards of 20 meetings between Waste Management and Ngāti Manuhiri that took place in 2018 and 2019.
“Indeed, Ngāti Manuhiri was seeking a formal arrangement with us on development of the landfill,” Mr Kennedy said.
“At no stage back then was it alluded to that the landfill was in the wrong place.”
Mr Kennedy said Waste Management was even provided with a Cultural Values Assessment (CVA) by Ngāti Manuhiri.
He said, at a later date, he was unexpectedly contacted and told that the CVA was not authorised and that it should not be distributed anywhere else.
Mr Kennedy said WM respected Maori cultural concerns and offered to assist in the remediation of historic landfills, which were already leaching into the Kaipara Harbour.
He said that Waste Management would be prepared to accept up to 50,000 tonnes of waste from the old tips – if the Kaipara District Council was prepared to transport the waste and the Government would waive the waste disposal fee.
William Kapea, of Ngāti Rango, then presented to the commissioners on behalf of WM, saying that mana whenua had come to accept the need for a landfill.
Ngāti Rango is a hapu of Ngāti Whātua, residing on the southern Kaipara Coast.
“We knew a landfill was coming, even if we didn’t know where,” he said.
“Rubbish is already being dumped in our rivers. If we don’t get a replacement for the closing Redvale landfill, it is going to be a train wreck,” Mr Kapea said.
He said that visiting Redvale had convinced his fellow kaumatua that if a landfill was inevitable, it ought to be the best kind of landfill, like Redvale.
Hearing panel chair Commissioner Sheena Tepania asked Mr Kapea how representative his views were of mana whenua when other iwi representatives had given such different submissions.
Mr Kapea said many of his people had come around to the idea once it had been explained that it would be a “modern landfill”.
“They know the realities. There are just as many people who accept the idea, but did not make a submission.”
Mr Kapea went further to say that the submissions of entities such as Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua did not speak for “everyone at home”.
Mr Kapea said that pine forestry currently being undertaken in the Dome Valley was flushing harmful sediment into the harbour and a landfill would put a stop to it.
“This land has been affected by forestry and so the mauri has already been compromised.”
Ms Tepania asked if a landfill could ever be said to fit within Maori cultural values.
“Yes, if we go back to the ways of ‘what comes from papatuanuku (land) goes back to papatuanuku’.
We never used to burn anything. That is our culture,” Mr Kapea said.
