Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board (WUCCB) chair Simon Telfer says the board is generally supportive of a Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) project to replace the Wānaka Refuse Transfer Station (RTS).

The existing facility on Ballantyne Road is under pressure, facing capacity issues along with rising maintenance and renewal costs, QLDC staff told the board during an update on the RTS project earlier this week.

The council has been working on a future-proofing replacement for some time but its purchase last year of neighbouring land at 189 Ballantyne Road increased the number of options available.

A concept design was completed in March and QLDC’s preferred option would roughly triple the facility’s current footprint, expanding onto the newly acquired land, to meet future demand through to 2050.

The project would take over five years, QLDC said.

“Overall the board was supportive of this project given projected growth in the Upper Clutha over the coming decades,” Simon told the Wānaka App after the workshop.

He said the board had encouraged QLDC staff to “step up collaboration and communication with Wastebusters as they are a very important partner in the overall waste management plan”.

Wastebusters has operated from leased QLDC land next to the existing RTF since it began 25 years ago and it has long outgrown its existing site and urgently needs more space.

The local non-profit has recently called on the public to encourage QLDC to allocate more land via submissions on the draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP).

Read more: Wastebusters calls for support for expansion

Simon said Wastebusters needs “clear direction from QLDC” as soon as possible.

The board had also raised a couple of other concerns about the RTS project with QLDC staff, Simon said.

“We had questions around the implications of the facility being built on a floodplain and the strength of the business case in light of the budget having ballooned to over $18M,” he said.

QLDC staff plan to discuss the RTF project at the QLDC infrastructure meeting later this month before presenting it to the full council in September.

PHOTO: Wānaka App