The Devonport Flagstaff Page 2
August 13, 2021
Checks ordered for former landfills in light of climate-change risks
For those in need... new Lake Rd block has 11 two-bedroom homes for transitional housing From page 1
First tenants expected this month
a more permanent place to live,” Jones said. The block will be managed and maintained by De Paul House, a provider of housing and support services, contracted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. De Paul House General Manager Jan Rutledge said the first properties were likely to be tenanted by mid-August, depending on the availability of furniture, which had been delayed by Covid-19. “We are a North Shore-based transitional housing and family-xsupport service, so would expect that residents would largely be from the local area.” Local school placements for children would depend on family circumstances. Kāinga Ora has written to nearby residents, telling them what the housing is to be used for.
Closed landfill sites at Cambria Reserve, Plymouth Reserve and Woodall Park will be inspected by Auckland Council this year, with the potential effects of sea-level rise among issues to be addressed. The environmental risk from former dumps and landfills was highlighted in 2019, when 21 kilometres of the Fox River and 64km of South Westland coastline was strewn with rubbish from a historic dump site. While Ngataringa Park was Devonport’s dump for years, few people would know landfills existed at Cambria Reserve, Plymouth Reserve and Woodall Park. The potential impacts of climate change are a key consideration of council’s
closed-landfill asset-management plan, according to its general manager of technical services, Paul Klinac, who responded to Flagstaff inquiries under the Official Information Act. “There are currently no site-specific mitigation plans against sea-level risk or threat of tsunami for the five closed landfills in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area,” Klinac said. Barry’s Point Rd is the fifth landfill in the local-board area. “Works to improve closed landfill resiliency to climate change will be assessed, planned and implemented in line with the council’s Long-Term Plan 2021-2031 and Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri: Auckland Climate Plan.”
Ngataringa discharge may be worsening
Pollution from the old dump at Ngataringa Park seems to be getting worse – and Auckland Council is moving to make improvements. A closed-landfill monitoring report from November 2019 to September 2020, by engineering consultants Tonkin and Taylor, showed “the site is generally in compliance” with conditions of its resource consent. However, “results of groundwater moni-
toring indicate a potential increase in environmental effects from leachate discharges,” according to documents released under the Official Information Act. The site is currently being investigated to determine if works can be carried out to reduce these environmental effects. Resource consents to discharge contaminate and contaminated groundwater from the landfill expire on 31 December 2022.
Library event puts spotlight on media
The State of the Media in a Fake News World is the subject of the next Devonport Library Associates forum on 24 August. Speakers include journalist and broadcaster Carol Hirschfeld and, from Devonport, freelance journalist and newsreader Anna Thomas, speechwriter and columnist David
Slack and Flagstaff editor Rob Drent. In conversation with local facilitator Karren Beanland, they will share their views on the state of the media and the future of the news industry. • State of the Media in a Fake News World, Devonport Library 24 August, nibbles from 7pm, discussion at 7.30pm.
Simon Watts MP for North Shore
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