Consent ‘very temporary’

THE Buller District Council has been granted consent to temporarily discharge partially treated effluent into the Buller River.

The new West Coast Regional Council consent is a replacement for a previous permission to discharge while undertaking maintenance of the Westport sewerage treatment plant, at McPaddens Pit on the southern side of the Buller Bridge at the entrance to Westport.

The district council is also allowed to discharge contaminated material from the plant system to land at the McPaddens site.

Regional council consents and compliance manager Colin Helem said it was purely for maintenance of the ponds and ‘‘very temporary’’.

Meanwhile, a Barrytown landowner has been given consent to disturb the bed of Granite Creek.

The creek had been diverted by a slip and is eating away at a residential property on the upper side of State Highway 6 at Barrytown, adjoining the bridge.

Mr Helem said the gravel extraction being sought, downstream from the bridge, ‘‘may be beneficial’’ for the other issue.

BT Mining has applied to store new and scrapped tyres at the Stockton coalmine site. Mr Helem said consent was needed to bury tyres as it was classed as ‘‘disposing of a contaminant’’.

The district council had been given consent to clear vegetation and do earthworks within the riparian margins of Conns Creek and No Name Creek to install a new pipeline for the Waimangaroa water supply; and to take water from No Name to supply the settlement.