Wastewater budget discomfort
Nelson’s mayor is urging the public to identify priorities for sewerage spending, after pared-back business and activity plans proved controversial with Nelson City councillors.
The Nelson City Council had requested lower spending from the Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit (NRSBU), but the proposed deferral of $5 million from the first to the second half of the 10-year plan was contentious at its final presentation to the council’s infrastructure committee.
General manager of regional sewerage and landfill Nathan Clarke said the NRSBU had been careful to balance risks and costs to maintain critical functions.
‘‘What we’ve done is prioritised the collection and conveyance [of wastewater] away from areas of the public, so we can avoid public health implications of wastewater. And we’ve put that over the top of some of the other considerations we’ve had, such as climate change or other mitigation strategies.’’
Councillor Kate Fulton was disappointed to see environmental mitigation projects delayed in the new draft.
She highlighted previously proposed projects such as discharging onto land and the lost opportunity to look at more environmentally-friendly options than diesel generators for backup power.
‘‘At the time I asked very carefully if that would be the outcome of this ... and I was reassured that no, we would still be delivering to high environmental standards,’’ Fulton said.
‘‘I don’t feel like we’ve landed in a place where we’re delivering to high environmental standards, and I’m really concerned.’’
NRSBU chairman and Tasman District councillor Kit Maling said the NRSBU was progressing on environmental issues. However, ‘‘You can’t do it overnight,’’ he said.
‘‘[In the] long term we want to reduce wastewater that goes to the estuary . . . but it takes time to do that.
‘‘We also want to reuse our wastewater for industry.
‘‘Again that takes time and that’s why we’ve been doing these extra filters. All these things take time and they all cost a lot of money.’’
Group manager of infrastructure Alec Louverdis said the current draft LongTerm Plan now out for consultation used figures based on the original documents presented last December.
He said that when the committee adopted the updated documents, the new figures would go into the plan’s deliberations process after public submissions were heard.
Councillor Gaile Noonan said she was feeling ‘‘more and more uncomfortable about this ... And I think some of it’s come about from timing.’’
She was concerned that the consultation documents available to Nelson residents included different funding levels than those supported by the Tasman District Council, which co-owns the NRSBU, and the apparent pre-empting of public feedback.
‘‘I don’t know about the implications if we adopt this . . . We haven’t heard from our public. I think they want us to spend more on this item, but I’m not going to know that until we hear from them.’’
Maling brought the timing issues back to the Nelson council’s doorstep, however. ‘‘We [Tasman District Council] signed off on it, and you didn’t to be honest.
‘‘You asked us to go back and do some work ... That’s what we did, and now you’re not happy. So, sorry.’’
Louverdis said it could ‘‘potentially be an issue’’ if the two councils had different funding levels.
‘‘I don’t want to start making assumptions on the hop.’’
Mayor Rachel Reese echoed Noonan’s concerns about alignment between the two councils and the need for public consultation. ‘‘I want to hear what the people of Nelson have to say,’’ she said.
‘‘This is about absolutely critical matters, and some of the objectives that we were trying to achieve have had to be pushed out.
‘‘My message today is: The public of Nelson and Tasman – if these things are important to you, you need to be submitting to both Nelson City and Tasman District Council’s plan, because otherwise these projects will be deferred.’’
The mayor, councillors Noonan and Yvone Bowater abstained. Councillors Fulton and Mel Courtney voted against.
The documents were adopted, with councillors Trudie Brand, Judene Edgar, Matt Lawrey, Rohan O’Neill-Stevens, Pete Rainey, Rachel Sanson, Tim Skinner and Brian McGurk voting in favour.