AB Lime consent application granted

Independent commissioner Allan Cubitt has today released his decision to grant resource consents to AB Lime Ltd for its landfill operations.

AB Lime applied for 6 new consents and to vary an existing consent for its site at Kings Bend, located approximately 4 kilometres east of Winton.

The consents give permission for AB Lime Ltd to continue operating its landfill, removing the previous cap on waste volumes, and to formally receive emergency waste for a 25-year term.

The site of the application includes an established landfill with a history of over 15 years of landfill activity, as well as a well-established limestone quarry.

Under the new consents approved, the landfill footprint, overall capacity, final finished profile and overall physical area of the landfill do not change from those already authorised by the existing consents.

The reasons for decision are outlined in the commissioner’s decision document, available on our website.

Acting consents manager Bruce Halligan said the council understood that there were some strong concerns about the new consents sought for the landfill.

“We want to thank the submitters, including tangata whenua, for sharing their views with the council. Their feedback was carefully considered through the decision process. Commissioner Cubitt was also supported by technical advice from independent landfill and air quality experts. Extensive conditions have been included in relation to matters such as odour management and receipt of special waste, to recognise the submitters’ concerns.”

Some of the conditions include:

• A requirement for monitoring equipment to be installed for the continuous monitoring of hydrogen sulphide gas, to mitigate the potential for odour issues
• A condition specifying a maximum oxygen level to be maintained within the landfill, to minimise the potential for landfill fires
• Conditions relating to the types of waste which may be received and the conditions around this receipt to ensure these are appropriately managed.

As noted in the decision, some concerns raised by submitters were outside of the scope of matters which Commissioner Cubitt could consider, and/or sit within the jurisdiction of the Southland District Council which has a concurrent application from AB Lime.

The applicant and submitters’ parties have 15 working days to appeal the decision to the Environment Court should they wish to do so.