Auckland iwi will appeal Dome Valley dump decision

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

Ngāti Manuhiri and Ngāti Whātua whānui will appeal a split decision to grant consent to a controversial Dome Valley landfill in north Auckland.

Ngāti Manuhiri spokesperson Mook Hohneck says the iwi is “devastated' that Auckland Council didn’t have proper consultation with mana whenua.

“We're actually sick and tired of been the landing bay for Aucklanders and their recreation especially in this part where they're building a huge landfill within our rohe,” he says.

Some of the 19 iwi and mana whenua across Auckland will appeal the Dome Valley dump decision.

Waste Management has said it is pleased with the decision to approve the resource consent by independent commissioners for a 60ha site in Dome Valley, north of Auckland. Recycling and waste and environmental services provider, Waste Management is owned by Chinese multinational company Beijing Capital.

Ngāti Manuhiri's chairman Mook Hohneck was once neutral about the Doom Valley landfill, but now they’ve joined with another mana whenua of Auckland.

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Eugenie Sage, former conservation minister.

“It happens to be the Auckland Council that has granted this consent to dig up 5 and a half million cubic meters of our whenua and create a 60ha landfill for the greater Auckland community.”

The new landfill is to replace a landfill at Redvale. However, iwi and other wider community people are upset that they could have a dumping ground equivalent of 148 rugby fields in their backyard.

It will be known as the Auckland Regional Landfill and was widely criticised for its location in the middle of the few remaining thickly forested lands in north Auckland.

In 2018, Waste Management said the new landfill could create over 70,000 jobs. That followed then land information minister Eugenie Sage giving it the approval for the foreign-owned company to go ahead.

Protest group Fight the Tip was formed because of fear that waste from the landfill could seep into the Hōteo River.

Fight The Tip spokesperson Michelle Carmichael says, “It's smack bang on a waterway that leads into the Hōteo river and into the Kaipara harbour.”

“What Waste Management is saying is based on the most recent landfill that it hasn't had a breach. But when asked if they can guarantee it for the future they, could not make a comment.”

An appeal must be made within 15 working days of the decision, which was announced Monday.

This story first appeared on Te Ao – Māori News website and has been republished on Stuff with permission.