Councillor blasts dam ‘oversell’
First-term Tasman district councillor Dean McNamara has accused the council of using ‘‘suspect at best statistics and outright lies’’ to sell the proposed Waimea dam.
McNamara’s claims come in a blog on his tdcme.nz website and could land him in hot water.
Mayor Richard Kempthorne said he would be ‘‘taking advice’’ on the Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor’s actions and whether McNamara’s ‘‘very regrettable’’ behaviour breached the Code of Conduct for elected members.
Kempthorne said McNamara’s claim that he ‘‘had been lied to is a serious accusation’’.
Under the headline Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics, McNamara pulls no punches in his blog, accusing the council of ‘‘obvious propaganda’’.
‘‘The most damage to the dam progress has not been flyers delivered by [former TDC candidate] Murray Dawson or other anonymous detractors,’’ McNamara says in his blog.
‘‘The most damage to dam goodwill among the general ratepayers is the constant and consistent propaganda put out by the council and Waimea Irrigators.’’
TDC and dam proponent Waimea Irrigators Ltd are potential partners in the project in the Lee Valley for which the council has earmarked $25m in its Long Term Plan 2015-25.
In June, TDC passed a resolution that allows an increased capital contribution of up to $3m along witha higher share of operating costs. WIL proposes raising at least $15m from irrigators along with up to $25m via a 15-year loan from Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd, which acts on behalf of the Government. a
In his blog, McNamara says if the dam is ‘‘the goose that lays the golden eggs as the proponents of the dam would have us believe, then why is it consistently being oversold’’.
‘‘Why are we using suspect at best statistics and outright lies to sell what is reputedly a no-brainer for the Tasman district?’’
His comments come after the distribution of a special edition of the council’s Newsline publication that focused on the dam project.
McNamara kicks off his critique of the Newsline special edition by pointing out the Wai-iti Plains feature on ‘‘a good half’’ of the picture on the front of the publication – land not affected by the dam discussion.
Kempthorne said he believed McNamara had a ‘‘valid point’’ over the photo and a much better picture of the affected Waimea Plains could have been used.
McNamara also raises concerns about a table in Newsline that shows the anticipated costs of the Waimea dam along with the estimated price tag of some alternative projects to augment the urban water supply. He queries a lack of ongoing costs for ‘‘environmental flow’’ in the table.
‘‘The reason that all the other options looked at are outrageously expensive by comparison to the Waimea dam is because all the other options have to include piping from augmentation source to end user,’’ he says. ‘‘The cost of using the river as a conduit (rather than piping and potentially treating) is that environmental flow has to be accommodated for.
‘‘This is not a ‘public benefit’ cost that should be attributed to the general ratepayer, this is a water extractor cost that is currently being directly subsidised by the general ratepayer.’’
Kempthorne said the ‘‘public benefit’’ cost could fall district wide but ‘‘nothing is determined yet’’.
McNamara also took issue with a graphic of the dam funding model in Newsline that has the proposed loan from Crown Irrigation as part of WIL, rather than TDC, contributions.
‘‘Given that council is being asked to underwrite the [Crown Irrigation] loan, it could be considered misleading at best, and down right deceptive at worst, to attribute that loan directly as WIL contributions,’’ he says.
McNamara said this week he was not anti-dam but had concerns around the proposed funding.
‘‘I’m voicing my opinion. We haven’t voted on the dam yet; I’m not disagreeing with any formed council opinion.’’
Kempthorne said he did not think the Newsline information was propaganda.
‘‘We’re tying to explain to our community the current state of play,’’ he said.