Like many of the nearly 3500 former landfill sites across New Zealand, it was developed before modern environmental standards were introduced.<\/p>\n
Grigg said the former landfill, next to the Kokohuia Wetland in the Castlecliff and Gonville area of Whanganui, did not have several features associated with modern landfill containment and risk management.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investigation will give us a complete picture of how any contamination and leachate from the site may be affecting surrounding waterways and wetlands, and what long-term options may be needed to protect the environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work will complement significant community-led restoration work already underway, including the Kokohuia\/Titoki Wetland project.<\/p>\n
Grigg said the investigation was an important first step in exploring ways to further restore the area\u2019s cultural and environmental values, and reflected a collaborative approach between Whanganui hap\u016b, Mokoia Catchment R\u014dp\u016b, Whanganui District Council and central government to secure long-term environmental benefits for Te Awa Tupua\/the wider Whanganui Catchment.<\/p>\n
Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe welcomed the funding which was in addition to $310,000 council was putting up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investigation is about getting the facts. Before we make decisions about the site\u2019s future, we need to understand its condition and how it relates to the surrounding environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike many people who grew up in Whanganui, I have memories of visiting Balgownie as a kid and hunting for treasure. Looking back, I realise how much our understanding of waste and its impacts has changed over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we can\u2019t change how things were done in the past, we can do our best to manage the site responsibly into the future. These investigations will help us do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tripe said people could still visit the site.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can walk on it and it\u2019s accessible, but as far as what can be done on it is unknown. Obviously, there\u2019ll be methane gas sitting underneath it, which is an accumulation over the time since it closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s very common with landfills or retired landfills. At the end of the day, it\u2019s about, understanding what\u2019s going on top of the ground, but more importantly, what\u2019s going on underneath the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019d previously suggested putting solar panels on the land before being alerted to the possible dangers.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently even digging beneath there could be seen as dangerous, and it\u2019s kind of like potentially, you know, putting a pin in a balloon and it goes pop. So, we just don\u2019t know what\u2019s gonna happen, and that\u2019s what the investigation is about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mokoia Catchment R\u014dp\u016b chair Ken Mair said understanding the landfill was important for the wider catchment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe waterways and wetlands in this area flow through to Te Awa Tupua, so this work is an important step toward improving the health of the Awa and surrounding environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at future options for the landfill will support a broader programme of work focused on the wellbeing of wh\u0101nau, whenua and the river.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project, which had a total cost of $774,000, started in June 2026 and was expected to be completed by October 2027.<\/p>\n
Contaminated Sites and Vulnerable Landfills Fund was administered by the Ministry for Cities Environment Regions and Transport and supported councils and agencies to reduce risks to human health and the environment posed by legacy contaminated sites and vulnerable landfills.<\/p>\n
Since 2024, it had allocated $21 million to seven projects.<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like many of the nearly 3500 former landfill sites across New Zealand, it was developed before modern environmental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[62485,272950,44973,24912,43300,296,69712,5133,111,43,139,69,90,28758,33229,14040,61,21083],"class_list":["post-555742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-62485","tag-balgownie","tag-environmental","tag-govt","tag-impacts","tag-into","tag-landfill","tag-martin","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-probe","tag-robin","tag-spend","tag-to","tag-whanganuis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}