June 20, 2021
Auckland waste threatens Kaipara moana
A Kaipara district councillor says Auckland is dumping its waste problems on her region with the approval of a mega-tip near Warkworth.
Karen Joyce-Paki says she’s at a loss to understand the split decision, given that there were 958 submissions against the proposal and only 10 from waste firms in favour.
Groups she is part of made submissions about the likely environmental effects, the increased movement of trucks, and the difficulty of fixing things if they go wrong.
While the tip is in the Auckland Council area, it sits beside the Hoteo River which is part of the catchment feeding into the Kaipara harbour.
"Councils are elected to represent their people and outcomes like this make it incredibly difficult to maintain trust and confidence with our whanau so at the end of the day it should be about protection and people but to me, it looks like profit and politics," she says.
Karen Joyce-Paki says there seems to be a strong feeling in the community the decision must be appealed to the Environment Court
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