Smell enough to cause ‘retching’

Timaru residents are not happy about a pungent odour wafting through the town.

Environment Canterbury confirmed it had received 29 complaints about obnoxious or unpleasant smells in Timaru since the start of January, but at this stage, the regional council says it has not identified the source of the offensive odours.

Veronica Fellows, who lives in Norwood St, said the smell on some days was bad enough to make her retch.

‘‘It’s a stench, there’s no other way to describe it,’’ she said.

‘‘On a hot day I can open no window nor door. It also varies. You could be out and about at 10am and smell it, and it’s gone 30 minutes later,’’ she said.

Fellows said that recently during a trip to an appointment, the smell was so bad she was left ‘‘retching’’ for some time.

‘‘I do not know how they can advertise the cliff walk or expect cruise ships to stay,’’ she said.

‘‘The smell has returned with a vengeance. I don’t know what can be done about it, but it’s just really unpleasant.’’

Timaru District mayor Nigel Bowen said ‘‘odours that impinge on people’s enjoyment of the outdoors’’ were always a concern and he encouraged people to get in touch with ECan to report them.

ECan deputy chairman Peter Scott, of South Canterbury, said he was aware of the concerns.

‘‘But until we can actually locate the exact source of the odour, there is very little we can do. Odours are quite a personal thing, as we have found out with similar complaints this year.

‘‘It can change so quickly, particularly when the wind changes in

Christchurch direction,’’ Scott said.

In regards to the current complaints, ECan southern zone delivery lead Brian Reeves said ‘‘at this stage, the specific source of the odour is unknown’’.

‘‘We are continuing to investigate,’’ Reeves said.

ECan was unable to provide further information about what steps they were taking to address the issue, but confirmed the majority of the complaints had been from the Oceanview, Waimataitai, Washdyke, Marchwiel Smithfield suburbs.

The issue of unpleasant odours in Timaru is a recurring one.

In 2017, a number of residents, including Fellows, complained about unpleasant odours spreading throughout Timaru.

A subsequent investigation led to ECan issuing Alliance Smithfield, and South Canterbury By-Products, a meat processing plant on Aorangi Rd in Washdyke, with abatement notices, and also fines for breaching their consents.

‘‘I do not know how they can advertise the cliff walk or expect cruise ships to stay.’’ Veronica Fellows

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