The Mayor of Timaru District has welcomed the announcement of $6 million central government funding to help with the long-term clean-up of Peel Forest Landfill.

The money, which comes from the Ministry for the Environment’s Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund, will fund half of the $12 million work required to remove the contents of the closed landfill and transport it for safe storage at managed landfill sites.

Mayor Nigel Bowen welcomed the Government announcement, saying that the project was of vital importance to protect the Rangitata River from contamination.

“The Rangitata River is identified as Land of National Significance and a Site of Special Wildlife Significance. The Lower Rangitata is one of the largest braided rivers in Canterbury and supports threatened species such as the wrybill, black fronted tern, Caspian tern, and black billed gull, as well as being an important habitat for indigenous fish species,” he said.

“While we had worked with Environment Canterbury on temporary solutions during the 2019 floods, it was important that as a district we took ownership of the issue and provided a long-term solution to the problem to protect this environment.

“However, remediation projects like this come at a significant cost, and it’s challenging for ratepayers to bear this alone so I really welcome the Government providing this support.”

The site was used as a municipal landfill from around 1962 to 2004 and received waste from the local and surrounding settlements.

The site was likely an informal dump site, which was taken over by Strathallan County Council in the mid-70s. Strathallan County was amalgamated into Timaru District Council in 1989, which was when TDC took on responsibility for the landfill.

Flooding of the Rangitata River in 2019 eroded the riverbank by this closed landfill, resulting in failure of the cliff face, exposing rubbish and debris.

Temporary mitigation works were carried out at the time, however the dynamic nature of braided rivers meant that a long term solution had to be in place to protect the environment.

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