Help protect our environment from landfill

Our group needs your help to fight against a huge landfill in the Dome Valley, Wellsford. Auckland council has approved resource consent so we are heading to the environment court to appeal this decision.

We are opposing the proposed Auckland Regional Landfill in the Dome Valley in order to protect the environment, Hoteo River, Wellsford town water and Kaipara Harbour, and to eliminate the impact of 300-500 extra trucks a day on SH1 through the notorious Dome Valley.

The proposed landfill is located in a valley on a tributary to the Hoteo River. This area has the highest rainfall in the Auckland region, intense flooding and is prone to slips which could breach the liner system and cause contamination to the surrounding environment. The Hoteo River flows into the Kaipara Harbour, our largest snapper breeding ground and habitat to many species - an important current and historic fishery for locals, iwi, the fishing industry and for recreational fishing. The site is adjacent to Department of Conservation land which includes the 'at risk' species of Hochstetters Frogs, and to 4 identified Wetlands on the Springhill site. We need your help to protect these significant waterways.

Our group has opposed this landfill through the submission process, submitting evidence from a range of experts. There are better locations and technologies that can instead be used. The recycling rate in NZ is far lower than other countries, and landfilling is a cheap method of disposal. Our team includes an ecologist, botanist, environmental scientist, iwi cultural adviser. We also have supporting evidence from a leading Environmental Engineer specialising in Waste Minimisation who has advised the govt & UN on waste strategy who supports our petition to ban landfills near waterways. With your help we will appeal the decision to grant resource consent through the Environment Court.

We also presented a petition to parliament to Ban landfills near waterways nationwide. We think putting a landfill near any waterway in NZ is totally unnecessary and poses a potential high risk of widespread and irreversible contamination in the event of any leachate leak. For more information please email fightthetip.nz@gmail.com or join our facebook group Fight the tip, Save the Dome.