Bottling call ‘kick in the face’
Muzzling the Christchurch public over now-approved water-bottling using deep aquifer water is a ‘‘massive kick in the face’’ for the city.
That’s the view of Christchurch City councillor Vicki Buck, who says it is ‘‘abhorrent’’ residents have been sidelined over the future of their drinking water.
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel is also ‘‘dismayed’’ Cloud Ocean Water’s plans to extract water from a bore at its Belfast bottling plant to sell overseas have been approved by Environment Canterbury-appointed independent commissioner Richard Fowler, QC. Dalziel said it was disappointing the public had no say and was unhappy council had been pushed aside over such an important resource consent application.
‘‘It is crystal clear from all of the advice we have received internally that this potentially places at risk our drinking-water supply in the future as the area around Belfast expands.’’
Fowler decided the application did not meet the thresholds to be notified either publicly or in limited fashion.
Expert evidence found the effects on the environment ‘‘would be no more than minor’’, Fowler said. He has allowed the company to change the conditions of an existing consent to take water from a deeper bore within its current allocation. That bore would be 186 metres deep.
Aotearoa Water Action (AWA)
campaign spokesman Peter Richardson said a judicial review was possible. ‘‘We can’t really see how he could explain how he made that decision. Public concern is one of the things you need to take into account.’’
ECan general counsel Catherine Schache said the council knew this would be ‘‘a frustrating decision for members of the public who wanted to have their say’’.
A Cloud Ocean Water spokeswoman said the company was pleased a decision was made. She said Cloud Ocean had never used the old industrial Kaputone Wool Scour (1994) Ltd consent transferred to it. The only consent used was the new one granted in December 2017 specifically for water bottling.
The city council has been opposed to the plan over its possible impacts on public drinkingwater supplies. It has also been angered by ECan’s approach, demanding the regional council undertake a thorough environmental assessment.
ECan would not comment when asked if there was concern about how the decision might reflect on its reputation.
Buck was ‘‘shocked and appalled’’ at the decision: ‘‘I can’t think of a worse outcome.’’
The council had asked for the application to be publicly notified or at least notified on a limited basis so its views could be considered, she said. ‘‘We’ve been completely ignored. It’s just so abhorrent and a massive kick in the face that the people of Christchurch have no say in the future of their drinking water.’’
The Cloud Ocean bore was in an area where the council expected a 50 per cent increase in demand during the next 30 years. Taking water from the deeper bore meant Cloud Ocean would be taking water from the same aquifer that supplied drinking water.