Shooting clubs face tests for lead leaks

Testing for leaching could be carried out on gun club properties around the country after concerns were raised over one controversial club.

Auckland Council has revoked a certificate of compliance for the Auckland Shooters Club over fears of lead from spent ammunition leaching into surrounding waterways.

The move could raise questions over whether testing for possible leaching at other gun club sites nationally should be looked at.

Some have been operating on the same sites for 130 years without testing.

Environment Canterbury has raised concerns about lead from a shotgun range, one of three gun clubs operating on a councilowned site on the outskirts of Christchurch, according to Dave Hodder from the North Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association.

The site, close to the Waimakariri River, a drinking water source, sits on a permeable layer of schist.

The newly established Auckland Shooters Club had been at the centre of a row in Makarau, north of Auckland, after competitive shooters Raymond O’Brien and Victoria Pichler were granted the certificate of compliance to set up and operate a gun club last year.

The nearby Vipassana Meditation Centre, with strong backing from many in the Makarau community, challenged the certificate of compliance through the High Court.

Makarau residents were concerned lead residue could get into aquifers used for drinking water.

The matter was referred back to the council after it was found no assessment had been done on possible lead discharges.

Proposed methods to manage the discharge would reduce but not prevent it, independent commissioner Cherie Lane for Auckland Council found, so a resource consent was needed.

Club president Chris Gee was disheartened by the decision.

As a permitted activity landowners O’Brien and Pichler can still shoot on the land, but all club events have been stopped and cancelled for now, Gee said.

Auckland Council rejected the shooting club’s claims, saying: ‘‘The decision that the Auckland Shooting Club’s activities require a discharge consent is based on an assessment of the applicant’s particular circumstances, including the concentration of shooting activities in a specific area over a long time and the risk of contamination from lead discharge.