What to do with Seddon poo discharge?

In February, the council allocated funding for the new system in the long-term plan, a site was identified and a programme of works was put together, but they needed another five years.

The proposed Marlborough Environment Plan allowed contaminants to be discharged to water in breach of policies protecting the environment and tangata whenua (people of the land) values, if the discharge met water quality classification standards ‘‘after reasonable mixing’’ with the water body.

If it did not meet water quality standards, a consent could still be granted for an existing discharge if the applicant could show contamination levels would be reduced within five years, and provided adverse effects were not ‘‘significant’’.

An environmental consultant at Opus International hired by the council said the discharge would not cause significant adverse effects on the water quality of the creek, considering it was already of such poor quality.

Commissioner Prudence Steven QC said in her decision released in May the effect on the creek’s mauri was the greatest impact and could be enough to decline the application.

But the commissioner accepted there was no alternative solution immediately available.

She granted the consent, with conditions including applying for consent for the new treatment system within five years.

The council would take weekly dissolved oxygen and ph readings at the discharge site, and samples of the site, upstream and downstream, would be tested every three months.

It would also have to do an ecological assessment after two years, and send updates to the ru¯ nanga and council on the landbased discharge system once a year.