Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill
Notice of the Ordinary meeting of
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
Agenda | Rārangi take
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Date: |
28 May 2025 |
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Time: |
9:30 AM |
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Location: |
Council Chamber, Floor 2A, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson |
Chairperson Deputy Mayor of Tasman Stuart Bryant
Members Nelson City Council:
Cr Aaron Stallard
Iwi Representative:
Vacant
Tasman District Council:
Cr Trindi Walker
Quorum 3 Nigel Philpott
Chief Executive
governance.advisers@ncc.govt.nz
Nelson City Council Disclaimer
Please note that the contents of these Council and Committee agendas have yet to be considered by Council and staff recommendations may be altered or changed by the Council in the process of making the formal Council decision. For enquiries call (03) 5460436.
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit Delegations Areas of Responsibility:
Matters relating to the operation and use of the York Valley and Eves Valley landfills as regional landfill facilities, and the timing of their use.
Powers to Decide:
Setting of fees and charges for waste disposal at the regional landfill facilities by 30 June each year; including the power to apply discounted fees and charges for the disposal of waste in bulk; and to determine other circumstances where discounted fees and charges may be applied.
Decisions to accept (or not accept) waste that is generated outside the Nelson- Tasman region.
Power to Recommend to Councils:
Any other matters under the area of responsibility of the Business Unit
All recommendations to Council will be subject to adoption of an equivalent resolution by the other Council, unless it is a matter specific to one Council only.
Quorum:
The Memorandum of Understanding governing the NTRLBU allows for either four or five members to be appointed. The quorum at a meeting is either two (if four members are appointed), or three (if five members are appointed), including at least one from each local authority.
Procedure:
The Standing Orders of the Council providing administration to the committee shall be applied at each meeting.
The Chairperson will not have a casting vote
Copies of minutes of meetings of the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit will be retained by each Council for record keeping purposes
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
28 May 2025
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Page No
Order of Business
Karakia and Mihi Timatanga
1 Apologies......................................................................................... 4
2 Confirmation Of Order Of Business........................................................ 4
4 Public Forum.................................................................................... 4
5 Confirmation Of Minutes..................................................................... 4
6.1 25-244 Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit General Manager Update Report May 2025........................................................................................... 8
Karakia Whakamutanga
Procedural Items
1 Apologies
No apologies have been received at this time.
2 Confirmation Of Order Of Business
3 Interests
Members are reminded of their obligation to declare any conflicts of interest they might have in respect to the items on this agenda.
4 Public Forum
No requests for public forum have been received.
5 Confirmation Of Minutes
5.1 12 March 2025 - Minutes
That the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
1. Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit, held on 12 March 2025, as a true and correct record.
Minutes of a meeting of the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit held in the Council Chamber, Floor 2A, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson on 12 March 2025, commencing at 9:30 AM.
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Present: Deputy Mayor of Tasman S Bryant (Chairperson), Tasman District Councillor T Walker, Nelson City Councillors M Courney (Deputy Chairperson) and A Stallard
In Attendance: Deputy Chief Executive/Group Manager Infrastructure (A Louverdis), General Manager Regional Services (N Clarke), Senior Governance Adviser (A Andrews) and Governance Adviser (A Bryce)
Apologies: Nil
1 Apologies
No apologies were received.
2 Confirmation of Order Of Business
There were no changes to the order of business.
3 Interests
There were no updates to the Interests Register, and no interests with items on the agenda were declared.
4 Public Forum
There was no public forum.
5 Confirmation Of Minutes
5.1 29 November 2024 - Minutes
Resolved RLBU/2025/1
It was discussed and agreed that the minutes be amended to reflect all the perspectives discussed during the Terms of Reference conversation.
That the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
1. Confirms the amended minutes of the meeting of the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit, held on 29 November 2024, as a true and correct record.
Cr Courtney/Cr Stallard Carried
6 Reports For Decision
6.1 Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit Class 3 Waste Graduated Fee Report
Nathan Clarke, General Manager Regional Services took the report as read. He answered questions on material considered as Class 3 waste, cost of disposal at other Class 3 facilities, current airspace and future capacity, time frames to reach Stage 2 and enforcement of conditions.
The meeting was adjourned from 10:16am until 10:26am
Resolved RLBU/2025/2
That the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
1. Agrees to support the proposal to implement a graduated fee scale as detailed in report R25-105 noting that the committee requires additional information; and
2. Requests officers bring back further information to the next Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit meeting.
Cr Stallard/TDC Cr Walker Carried
Item 7.2 Review of NTRLBU Governance Documents was taken before Item 7.1 Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit General Manager Update Report March 2025 due to officers’ availability.
7 Reports For Information
7.1 Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit General Manager Update Report March 2025 (Item 7.1 was taken after Item 7.2))
Nathan Clarke, General Manager Regional Services took the report as read and answered questions on costs involved in variation of contracts, budget for waste generation, class 3 facility, landfill consents, battery collections, gas quality and ongoing negotiations with Nelson hospital.
Resolved RLBU/2025/4
That the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
1. Receives the report Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit General Manager Update Report.
Cr Stallard/TDC Cr Walker Carried
7.2 Review of NTRLBU Governance Documents (Item 7.2 was taken before Item 7.1)
Alec Louverdis, Group Manager Infrastructure, Richard Kirby, Group Manager Community Infrastructure, and Marie Callander, Tasman District Council - Corporate Counsel, took the report as read and answered questions relating to the terms of reference. Some members requested a workshop to discuss this further, and the Chair undertook to work with officers on this matter.
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit - 12 March 2025 2 of 3
Resolved RLBU/2025/3
That the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
1. Receives the Review of NTRLBU Governance Documents Report and its Attachment.
Cr Courtney/TDC DM Bryant Carried
There being no further business the meeting ended at 11:27 am.
Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings by resolution on (confirmation date). Insert Resolution here (remove bold please):
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit - 12 March 2025 3 of 3
Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill
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Report Title: R25-244 Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill
Business Unit General Manager Update Report May 2025
Report Author: Nathan Clarke (General Manager Regional
Services)
Report Authoriser: Alec Louverdis (Deputy Chief Executive / Group
Manager Infrastructure)
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1 Purpose of Report
1.1 This report is an update by the General Manager (GM) on activities undertaken to 31 March 2025 by the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit (NTRLBU).
2 Recommendation
That the Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit
1. Receives the report Nelson Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit General Manager Update Report May 2025.
3 Background
3.1 The operations and maintenance contractor has been performing well regarding health and safety and environmental performance.
3.2 Landfill operations have been running smoothly with few issues.
3.3 A new traffic light system has been implemented at the landfill traffic control hut to optimize the operations and allow the operational staff to control traffic remotely. It is anticipated that this will allow reduced operational costs over time.
3.4 Landfill compaction results are still good with the results from the Compactor GPS system showing monthly densities as high as one tonne per m3, this density is above the contracted density requirement of 0.85 tonnes per m3.
3.5 Landfill finances are in good shape at present due to the receipt of revenue from the Tahunanui Back Beach sawdust disposal project,
however total waste to the landfill (excluding the Tahunanui Beach Sawdust waste) is on average 535 tonnes per month below the 2024/25 forecast mass for the year to 31 March 2025.
3.6 The budget for the 2025/26 financial year assumes a waste disposal of 73,478 tonnes. It is possible, if the current trend continues, that revenue for York Valley Landfill will be lower than budget by around $1.7 million for the 2025/26 financial year.
3.7 The Eves Valley Landfill has accepted 1605 tonnes of class 3 waste for disposal for the financial year to the end of March 2025 and is on target to meet the budgeted 2000 tonnes for the financial year.
3.8 A range of improvements have been made to the Eves Valley Landfill to support ongoing acceptance of class 3 waste with improvements to stormwater management, leachate management, fencing and roading. This project is ongoing.
4 Health, Safety and Environment Records
4.1 There were no notable health and safety incidents during the period.
4.2 There were two ignition events recorded in the waste between 31 January 2025 and 31 March 2025. All the events were handled well by the operation contractor.
4.3 One ignition event was caused by Lithium-Ion batteries in a laptop computer with the second cause not being identified.
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Table 1: Fire incident records for the period to 31 March 2025
4.4 The list of Health and safety incidents and observations is provided to the end of April 2025 in table 2 below.
Table 2: Health and Safety for the period to 31 March 2025
4.5 Environmental performance during the period has been good, although there was one odour notification from a neighbour during the period.
4.6 Table 3 below outlines the environmental and odour incidents for the period to end of March 2025
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Table 3: Environmental and Odour incidents for the period to 31 March 2025
4.7 During the period the independent odour assessor engaged by NTRLBU has undertaken fortnightly odour assessments and has not identified odours outside the landfill basin.
4.8 The independent inspections also considered noise and litter and did not identify any noise or litter issues over the period.
5 Operations
5.1 Operations have run well over the period despite one large rainfall event occurring.
5.2 The NTRLBU Contract and Sustainability Engineer resigned and left during the period. NTRLBU is recruiting for a replacement and has received over 70 applicants for the role.
5.3 There were no notable issues with the operations during the period.
5.4 Landfill waste mass received during the period was 16383 tonnes, which was 1800 tonnes lower than the forecast waste mass in the 2024/25 budget.
5.5 NTRLBU preliminary finances to the end of December 2025 show a surplus compared to budget of $1,139,732 million for the 2024/25 year to date.
5.6 The General Manager (GM) expects the surplus to reduce throughout the remainder of the financial year due to the low waste mass being received at the landfill, and additional costs for managing the two large slips that have occurred around the York Valley Landfill site.
6 Odour Management
6.1 NTRLBU received two notifications related to odour during the period. Both notifications occurred on cool misty mornings with no or very slight breeze.
6.2 Unfortunately, on both occasions the independent odour assessor was not available to investigate when contacted. When NTRLBU staff investigated no odour was able to be detected, which suggests that any odour issues were of short duration.
6.3 Based on the low frequency, the low duration it is considered that the York Valley landfill does not create any more than minor adverse effects from its operations.
7 Eves Valley Class 3 Facility
7.1 Several improvement works were completed for the Eves Valley class 3 facility during the period. Additional work is planned to renew the leachate pumps in the new pump shed, and at the same time to connect the gas pipework for the landfill gas energy generation system.
7.2 There are additional stages of work required for developing additional airspace for the class 3 waste facility at Eves Valley Landfill. The work plan includes applying for discharge to land consents for additional locations at the Eves Valley Landfill facility.
7.3 The overarching program of works setting up the class 3 facility is behind schedule due to the delay receiving the completed resource consent for Stage 2 of the Eves Valley landfill.
7.4 NTRLBU has been advised to wait for the completion of the Stage 2 consent prior to commencing the discharge to land consent for additional areas of the landfill for class 3 waste disposal.
7.5 As part of the class 3 waste disposal stages a road stopping application is required for a section of paper road across the site. This application has been started.
8 Eves Valley Gas Utilisation
8.1 The gas utilisation project has been progressing slower than desired, due to time taken to resolve concerns regarding gas quality.
8.2 The landfill gas generator has been ordered for the facility and is due to arrive in the country in late July or early August 2025.
8.3 The generator building and the electrical control systems and interconnection equipment are also being ordered.
8.4 In addition to the physical works, NTRLBU is working with Nelson City Council (NCC) to ensure that the new electricity purchasing agreement will allow the sale of electricity from the Eves Valley Landfill site.
9 York Valley Slip Repairs
9.1 NTRLBU are in the process of remediating two slips on the rear of the landfill site. The work involves excavating around 35,000m3 of material from unstable areas to reduce the risk of further failure. This material is being placed and compacted in Gully 2 of the York Valley Landfill designation. This work is covered by the resource consent RM251515V1 which authorises earthworks within Gully’s 1, 2, and 3 of the York Valley Landfill designation.
10 Battery Collection Bin (BCB) Development Progress.
10.1 Three BCBs have been delivered to Tasman District Council (TDC), and the remaining ten BCBs available for delivery.
11 Emission Management
11.1 The NTRLBU gas management system at York Valley Landfill continues to operate effectively.
11.2 Gas capture and destruction is still at high levels, and balance gas levels are lower than previous years suggesting that capping integrity has improved.
11.3 The 2024 annual UEF was approved at the maximum reduction, and the annual emission remission of 7318 Units has been undertaken for the 2024 calendar year.
11.4 Work is ongoing on the business case and market research and a concept plan is being developed for the reuse options for the remainder of the gas at the York Valley Landfill.
11.5 Central Government has released the new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETC) settings. The new settings come into effect on 1 January 2026.
11.6 The new Default Emission Factor will be raised from 0.91 to 1.023 which will increase the number of ETS credits NTRLBU needs to remit annually.
12 Emissions Trading Scheme Position
12.1 The ETS unit price is currently around $53.50 per unit.
12.2 Following remission of the 2024 ETS liability our current holding of 133,772 units has an average cost of $47.80 per unit.
12.3 Our current New Zealand Unit (NZU) holding and movements.
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12.4 Units on Hand 31 January 2025 |
141,090 |
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12.5 Units surrendered for 2024 |
7,318 |
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12.6 Balance after surrender |
133,772 |
12.7 Treasury policy limit, assuming a Unique Emission Factor of 0.21 and budgeted waste volumes is 46,655 units.
12.8 Current holding is 87,117 units more than policy due to the reduction in the UEF achieved in 2023 and in 2024.
12.9 The NTRLBU and the Councils have approved the sale of 50,000 NZUs and delegated the timing of the sale to the General Manager of NTRLBU.
12.10 At present it is proposed that NTRLBU do not sell until there is more understanding of the NZ Governments position on climate change actions, and how this might affect future ETS prices, the Default Emission Factor, and the future NTRLBU ETS liability.
13 Waste Minimisation
13.1 NTRLBU tested a revised excavator grab bucket during the period to identify whether increased sorting was possible at the transfer station at York Valley landfill. The trial showed that some additional steel and timber could be diverted.
13.2 The trial identified that alternative methods of sorting waste would influence the layout of the transfer station, and this information will be used in the development of the permanent transfer facility design.
14 Risk Management
14.1 NTRLBU considers its risks on an ongoing basis, as risks on the site frequently change because of additional information or changes to operations.
14.2 This section has been added to outline some strategic and tactical risks facing the landfill at present.
14.3 It is not intended to be comprehensive or to outline all risks and will focus on different risks in each quarterly report or risks that NTRLBU is managing at that time.
14.4 Slip risk
14.4.1 A remedial program has commenced to resolve the known slip risks at York Valley Landfill. The principal risks associated with landslides relate to Health and Safety of personnel, maintaining unconstrained landfill access, and financial costs to remedy the slips.
14.5 Stormwater management
14.5.1 NTRLBU has upgraded the landfill sediment retention ponds and has improved stormwater channels and other services. There have however been occurrences where the sediment load from the system has exceeded the resource consent parameters due to the intensity and duration of the rain events, and the larger earthworks projects being undertaken on the site.
14.5.2 NTRLBU have developed a plan to divert stormwater from stabilised areas away from the sediment ponds to reduce the flowrate requiring treatment. This will further reduce the risk of sediment issues from the site.
14.6 Regional Landfill Consenting
14.6.1 NTRLBU has started the process of developing its consent application for the future landfill. A range of options have been considered at a conceptual level. It is important that this consenting work continues in a timely fashion as the time required to consent a new landfill can be significant.
14.7 Weighbridge software
14.7.1 NTRLBU has changed its weighbridge software to software that is cloud based and is serviced locally. However, NTRLBU is struggling for approval to connect the new software to the NCC finance system. The weighbridge information is still required to send its data to the old unsupported software, which forwards the information to the financial management system.
14.7.2 Not having the software directly interface with the NCC finance system raises the risk of faulty transactions and issues with landfill revenue. Managing faulty transactions increases NTRLBU workload issuing credit notes and reduces the NTRLBU being able to interrogate and generate reports on incoming waste data. Work is going on to resolve this risk.
15 NTRLBU Finances
15.1 Income Account for the period to 31 March 2025
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15.2 The budget year to date shows NTRLBU is ahead of budget by $1,139,732 resulting from the disposal of the Tahunanui Back Beach sawdust.
15.3 Excluding the Tahunanui Back Beach sawdust revenue, the landfill revenue is tracking behind budget with revenue $194,000 below budget for the March month.
15.4 This trend, when combined with the costs for slip repairs, will reduce the surplus significantly by the end of the financial year. Despite this lower than budgeted revenue, it is forecast that NTRLBU will be ahead of budget for the financial year by around $150,000.
15.5 Operational costs are above budget as expected, with increased costs associated with a range of different activities, including start-up costs for the new operations contract, additional front face construction costs, and
Nelson-Tasman Regional Landfill Business Unit Agenda – 28 May 2025
the development costs for the second disposal area for the Tahunanui sawdust disposal.
15.6 Additional operational costs will continue to be incurred over the next few months as the slip repairs and additional front face construction are undertaken.
16 Conclusion
16.1 Overall, the NTRLBU is in a good position from both a quality and a financial perspective.
16.2 The landfill is operating very well with safety management, environmental management, and customer experience all being undertaken to a high standard.
Attachments
Nil