Waiheke transfer station upgrade will go ahead, council confirms

The future upgrading of the Waiheke Island transfer station is not in doubt, Auckland City Council re-iterated this week.

Although consenting issues still have to be resolved, delaying the start of physical works, money is available for the reconfiguration of the facility and there is no suggestion it will be removed, Councillor Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, chairperson of the City Development Committee, confirmed.

Mr Lotu-Iiga said that reports on the future of the station may have given the impression the council was having second thoughts.

He said the facts are:

Waiheke needs a transfer station and its current location is ideal
as part of the station, it is desirable to provide a recovery centre, a facility for dealing with green waste, and full recycling services as well as transfer facilities for refuse
the council is looking to extend the existing contract for the transfer station's operation for 12 months with a further 12-months' option and is negotiating with Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd
future options for delivering services will be looked at in the major contract review for services beyond mid-2009/mid-2010 and the Waiheke Community Board will be consulted.
Mr Lotu-Iiga said the council was still awaiting Auckland Regional Council consents and hopefully these would be received soon. Auckland City Council planners had suggested that city council consent would need to be notified if it remained in its current form.

"We're looking at why that should be so and whether we should modify the proposal to bring it within a non-notified category. This assessment will be reported to the City Development Committee," he said.

Mr Lotu-Iiga said there were certain needs for waste services on Waiheke. "We'll be taking residual waste off the island for the foreseeable future and we need to maximise the amount of reuse on the island and maximise the amount of recyclable materials."

People had asked whether the new materials recovery centre (MRF) at Onehunga, opening in July, would have any impact. This is not proposed for the short to medium term contracts. In the longer term it may or may not be among options considered by the City Development Committee.

The only change to the current situation is for residual waste coming off barges at Half Moon Bay to go straight to Whitford landfill instead of Wiri Transfer Station for on-transport to Hampton Downs.