A demolition contractor responsible for an allegedly illegal dump in Sydenham has a month to begin moving it.

Environment Canterbury compliance monitoring team leader Nathan Dougherty said a meeting with the contractor, Skelly Holdings, yesterday had been productive and a fair degree of co-operation was achieved.

The company had promised not to handle any material on the stockpile unless it was taking it away and in the meantime would ensure dust from the pile would not cause a nuisance to neighbouring businesses, which include a coffee bean-roasting operation and several printing works.

Skelly had agreed to start moving the stockpile within the next four weeks, Dougherty said.

Skelly Holdings, which is operated by Chris Skelly, began dumping material at the KiwiRail-owned site near the Durham St over-bridge in November last year. The company has also dumped material in Rolleston without proper consents.

"We will be monitoring the site to ensure the company keeps its side of the bargain," Dougherty said.

Skelly Holdings has accreditation from the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera).

A Cera spokeswoman said yesterday that the authority would not answer questions about Skelly because "your query relates to processing".

- © Fairfax NZ News

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