Court deadline looms for Oxford landfill

Olivia Smith beside a sign on a fence in Oxford opposing the proposal to establish an industrial landfill on Trig Road, Oxford. Photo: North Canterbury News

The fate of a controversial proposed landfill in Canterbury could be known soon.

Woodstock Quarries Ltd submitted an appeal to the Environment Court last year after its resource consent applications to develop a landfill and expand an existing quarry near Oxford were declined.

The Environment Court has given the company until Thursday, April 17, to submit its evidence.

The parties to the appeal will then have until May 16 to advise whether they are willing to participate in mediation.

If mediation is unsuccessful, a five-day hearing is set for November.

Woodstock Quarries Ltd first submitted the applications in 2021 with Environment Canterbury and the Waimakariri District Council to develop a landfill and expand an existing quarry at 513 Trigg Road, View Hill, near Oxford.

But the application faced widespread community opposition, with 395 of the 397 submissions received opposing the landfill.

Hearing commissioners declined the application in June, concluding the applicant provided ‘‘insufficient information’’.

The Oxford-Ohoka Community Board was among those who submitted against the proposal, raising concerns about traffic, fire safety, dust, operational logistics and amenity effects.

The commissioners concluded the project posed ‘‘unacceptable risk to nationally and regionally significant biodiversity and cultural values’’.

During the consent process, opponents questioned the need for another landfill when the Kate Valley Landfill near Waipara, in North Canterbury, had capacity.

In April last year, Woodstock Quarries Ltd director Darryn Shepherd told Local Democracy Reporting he understood the community's concerns, but he was confident the landfill would be safe.

By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter

■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.