RMLA Project of the Year Award for Dunedin Waste Futures

The award recognises a project that demonstrates a strategic, long-term and collaborative approach to implementing the Resource Management Act's purpose and principles.

Resource Management Law Association (RMLA) has announced the recipients of its 2026 Annual Awards, presented at the Conference Gala Dinner in the Bay of Islands.

Boffa Miskell and Dunedin City Council were co-winners of Project of the Year for Dunedin Waste Futures, a group of interrelated initiatives to move the city's waste management practices to a more sustainable and circular economy.

The RMLA Project Award is given when a project has demonstrated a strategic, long-term and collaborative approach and made a significant contribution to the advancement of best practice and implementation of the Resource Management Act's purpose and principles.

Dunedin Waste Futures was considered to be "... an outstanding example of integrated environmental planning and implementation. Its whole-of-system approach brings together landfill closure, resource recovery, recycling, ecological restoration, hazardous waste management and community outcomes, with potential to influence waste management planning nationally."

Boffa Miskell, alongside the GHD engineering team, has been embedded within the DCC Waste Futures team since 2018; working in close collaboration with Aukaha on behalf of Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou. Taking a strategic, engagement-led approach has been central to the project’s success, with Boffa Miskell continuing to work alongside Dunedin City Council and the local community to develop an integrated vision for the site following closure that incorporates cultural narratives and values and explores opportunities for recreational, environmental, cultural and community use and enhancement.

Our role has included developing the overarching landscape framework; overseeing the resource management and consent process; and development of technical assessments. Project lead Rachael Eaton and planner Maurice Dale attended the conference and accepted the Project of the Year award on behalf of the wider team.

“We’re honoured that Dunedin Waste Futures has received this recognition from the RMLA," Rachael says. "It recognises the shared care, expertise and long-term thinking that have shaped Dunedin Waste Futures, and the strength of bringing technical, cultural and community perspectives together around a common goal.

"This programme has always been about more than closing a landfill. It is about creating a more resilient waste system and a lasting environmental, cultural and community legacy for Ōtepoti.”

This is the third project award in as many years for Boffa Miskell. Punangairi Visitor Experience Centre was a Highly Commended Project in 2025, and Sandy Point Domain Masterplan was the 2024 Project of the Year.

The annual RMLA awards recognise excellence, leadership, scholarship and innovation across the resource management profession in Aotearoa New Zealand — from emerging practitioners and postgraduate research through to projects, publications and people making an enduring contribution to the profession.