Council pleads guilty to breach charge

The Central Hawke’s Bay District Council appeared in court last week to plead guilty to a charge brought by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council in relation to its Waipawa wastewater treatment plant.

The regional council laid the charge in November last year over a technical breach at the Waipawa plant, which recorded six discharges containing E.coli, in excess of the five allowed exceedances over a 12-month period.

CHB District Council chief executive John Freeman said the two councils were working constructively over the issue, but that it was not appropriate to comment further while the case was before the court. He did note, however, that in the Hastings District Court on Monday Judge Craig Thompson said he thought it was “futile and empty” for the two councils to be appearing in front of the court when they were representing the same group of ratepayers.

The regional council had initially laid three charges against the CHB council, not long after it charged the Hastings District Council for water breaches relating to the Havelock North gastro crisis.

Although it dropped the Hastings prosecution during the Havelock North water inquiry, it said it had charged the CHB council to be consistent, and because the CHB issue had been ongoing. Over the last four months, however, it had dropped the other two charges laid against CHB over exceedances of E.coli and dissolved reactive phosphorus at its Waipukurau wastewater plant.

The case relating to the current Waipawa charge was adjourned until June 8when the CHB council will present its plea in mitigation sentencing.