Declining discharge unrealistic — QLDC
A RECOMMENDATION to decline a Queenstown Lakes District Council application for a districtwide wastewaster discharge consent does not engage with reality, a hearing was told yesterday.
Counsel Janette Campbell told Otago Regional Council commissioners such a consent was the ‘‘responsible and transparent option’’ for managing overflows, and would give the regional council a greater level of scrutiny than it had now.
Overflows were inevitable, unpredictable and already occurring, and were not caused by a lack of capacity, Ms Campbell said
The district council had an ‘‘ambitious’’ 10year programme of investment to improve the network’s resilience, and was proposing an ongoing public awareness programme to prevent blockages from entering it in the first place.
The regional council officers’ report overstated the proposal’s potential adverse effects on the environment, focusing on a ‘‘worstcase scenario of a large volume overflow’’, she said.
The district council has applied for a 35year permit allowing the discharge of wastewater overflows from its network to freshwater receiving environments, or on to land in circumstances where it may enter freshwater, as a result of blockages, breakages, system failures, extreme storm events or exceeding capacity.
A total of 200 submissions were received on the application, of which 197 are opposed.
More than 30 submitters intend to speak at the hearing, which began in Queenstown yesterday and continues until Thursday.
In response to a question from panel chairman Rob Lieffering, the regional council’s principal consents officer, Peter Christophers, said it was almost impossible to assess the effects of overflow discharges given the randomness and unpredictability of their timing, location and volume.
When asked why the panel should not grant a consent with conditions incentivising best practice, Mr Christophers said ‘‘you don’t need a resource consent to upgrade a wastewater system’’.
Should the consent be granted, it is likely to be the most generic of its kind in New Zealand for an entire wastewater network.
As a result, other territorial authorities will be watching the outcome closely.