Project Reclaim finished at Beach Road

Published on 14 November 2024

Waitaki District Council’s Project Reclaim, the programme of removing historic landfill and fly-tipping at risk of contaminating coastal Waitaki, wrapped up the extraction phase earlier this month.

The project involved the creation of a new landfill cell at the former Palmerston landfill site, and the removal of almost 48,000 tonne of waste from the closed Hampden Landfill, and just over 19,000 tonne of fly-tipped waste from two sites at Beach Road.

The total waste removed was around 67,000 tonne or the equivalent of nearly 45,000 2024 Toyota HiLux’s, 1 and a half RMS Titanics or 3.1 Auckland Sky Towers.

The excavation work at Beach Road revealed a much larger deposit of historic fly-tipped waste than the estimated 12,000 tonne. The removal of this waste, at 19,000 tonne, 58% more than estimated, required larger earthworks to take place at both sites.

Beach Road Northern and Southern Sites

Surveying is being undertaken to determine options for Beach Road, given the larger than anticipated earthworks required to remove the waste. With the site being passed from Fulton Hogan back to Waitaki District Council, and in order to save on traffic management costs, barriers have been established at either end of the Beach Road closure and it will remain closed to traffic until a decision is made regarding its future.

Project Reclaim was essential to preventing an environmental disaster along our coastline. Images taken during the project showed the high-tide line already reaching the rock-toeing placed at both the Hampden and Beach Road sites. By safely removing it, and storing it far from the coast, Project Reclaim has been a success.