"It’s ironic that waste management needs to come clean."
That statement from Greater Hornby Residents Association chairperson Marc Duff encapsulates the growing concerns of local residents over the proposed waste processing and stabilisation facility on 305 Marshs Rd.
The concerns came after a messy consenting process, which the association says failed to provide details on the potential health and safety consequences.
Association research manager Ross Houliston said the implications of potential pollutants had not been adequately researched. However, Environment Canterbury (ECan) approved the resource consent application for the facility from Waste Management. Importantly, this consent only entitled Waste Management to bring their application before the Environment Court, where the final decision still needs to be made.
Nearby resident Judy Sachdeva said not all residents living within 500m of Waste Management's Marshs Rd facility had been contacted prior to ECan approving the consent.
She said Prebbleton residents were dissatisfied with the lack of opportunity to give feedback. They wanted an air quality specialist to look into the the likelihood of chemical air pollution.
An ECan report did note that "submitters wish to be heard, therefore a hearing is required". The hearing was supposed to be before Christmas.
Sachdeva said a bigger conversation was required about the need for so much waste in the first place.