The proverbial hits the fan
Plans to pump in another town’s sewage causes a stink at remote and pristine Manapouri even before the pipeline arrives. Evan Harding reports.
Manapouri has its fair share of residents who can kick up a stink when they think it’s required.
And a festering dispute over where a new sewage pipeline should be built has caused New Zealand’s westernmost town, with its 230 residents, to unite to fight back.
Manapouri is nestled on the southeast corner of Lake Manapouri and at the foot of the mighty Fiordland National Park in the lower South Island.
The lake and mountain views from the township are stunning but tourists haven’t yet flocked there in droves, and that’s just how many of the locals like it.
Living among Manapouri’s residents are people hardened to conflict and not afraid to stand up for what they believe in.
That’s exactly what they are doing. A Southland District Council proposal to construct an 18km pipeline to transport treated sewage from nearby Te Anau and spray it onto land beside the Te Anau-Manapouri airport, just 4km from Manapouri township, has gone down like a stink bomb in the town.
The council wants to build the pipeline because the treated sewage can no longer be dumped into the Upukerora River, which flows into Lake Te Anau, after consents to do so run out in 2020. A decision is due in April.
But Manapouri is not prepared to take any crap – especially from another town.
‘‘They are transporting sewage from one town to another,’’ says Ruth Shaw, Manapouri resident of 35 years and coordinator of Fiordland Sewage Options.
‘‘I believe you s... in your own backyard, you don’t do it in someone else’s backyard.’’
Shaw is no stranger to controversy in the town.
She has been outspoken on many issues over the years, not least when tempers in the town reached boiling point over the poisoning of dozens of trees on the foreshore that had been blocking residents’ views.
The culprits were never found. When Shaw arrived in Manapouri 35 years ago, it was a small village where people settled to enjoy the trees and tranquility.
‘‘Now we are getting really big houses that are mainly holiday homes; they want to get rid of the bush and have street lights.’’
The demographic of the area is changing, she says.
‘‘They are trying to turn it into a small Te Anau and the reason we live here is we don’t want to live in Te Anau.’’
Opponents of the sewage scheme, including Shaw, have now reluctantly accepted the pipeline will be built, but are calling on the council to ensure the wastewater is discharged underground by means of sub-surface irrigation near the airport, rather than sprayed above ground.
The reasons are numerous.
They don’t want another town’s poo deposited on their doorstep; bird strikes are already a problem at the airport, and they believe the introduction of wastewater nearby will exacerbate the problem; and odour drift in the prevailing northerly winds is of concern. Businesses at the airport are rallying against the proposal, and residents fear Fiordland’s image will be tarnished.
With public pressure relentless, the council has now voted to look further into the possibility of the sub-surface discharge option.
Long-time Manapouri resident Aaron Nicholson, an environmentalist, historian, and collector of Morris cars – whose family have owned a holiday park in the town for 46 years – says the sewage debate has united the Manapouri townsfolk in some respects.
Nicholson’s family, from America, initially lived in Frankton, near Queenstown, after arriving in New Zealand nearly 50 years ago.
But they settled in Manapouri when he was about 12.
‘‘Manapouri was a very beautiful place that people had overlooked, and it’s still a bit like that,’’ he says.
‘‘Progress is very slow here. It can be a good thing in some ways, if you look at Queenstown.
‘‘It’s a funny place because everything is based on the scenery.’’
Located just 20km west of the larger and more popular Te Anau township, which is the gateway to Milford Sound, Manapouri is perhaps best known for the power station at the west arm of Lake Manapouri about 30km from the town.
Completed in 1971, the power station was built to supply electricity to the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter near Bluff, about 160km to the southeast.
Different factions now live in Manapouri, Nicholson says.
They include greenies, retired people, and ‘‘people who come here to get way from other people’’.
‘‘It’s almost a split community.’’ However, the sewage debate has united many of the townsfolk, who ‘‘almost felt like they were dumped on’’.
‘‘They became allies to a certain extent.’’
Jack Murrell, 83 and a lifelong Manapouri resident, agrees the debate has unified the townsfolk to a degree.
Raised in the town in a log hut with a shingle roof, Murrell grew up enjoying the outdoors, shooting deer in the Fiordland National Park and becoming a mountain climber of some repute.
He loves the town for its natural beauty and surrounds and says Te Anau’s poo is not welcome.
Murrell fondly recalls making his feelings known in plain terms at a public meeting on the issue.
The multimillion-dollar sewage pipeline proposal is an absurd extravagance, he believes.
‘‘They should treat it to the highest standard possible at the pond in Te Anau and release it into the lake.’’
He believes almost everybody in Manapouri is against the poo being dumped near the airport; a fact Shaw endorses after Manapouri townsfolk were surveyed.
However, at least one Manapouri resident does not agree with the majority.
Irene Barnes, who has lived in the town for more than half a century, says she is inclined to listen to the experts who believe the location for the wastewater near the airport is the best solution because of the soil type and groundwater characteristics for irrigation.
People with no knowledge of the issue say they don’t want it near the airport, and costs have increased substantially as the fight has gone on, she says.
Barnes does not believe she is a lone wolf in the town supporting the proposal, but she appears to be the only one speaking publicly.
Ebel Kremer, a Southland district councillor who lives in Te Anau, says it’s not only Manapouri residents concerned about the sewage pipeline ending up near the town.
Plenty of Te Anau residents are also against it.
The airport is a fantastic facility for the area and, being located at the gateway to Fiordland, it has potential to get more air traffic, he says.
There is deep concern among ratepayers of Te Anau and Manapouri that if the resource consent for pivot irrigation goes ahead, the impact on the future development of the airport will be significant.
Kremer says other alternatives have been looked at and this was decided on as the best option.
He supports the sub-surface irrigation option but wants to first ensure the wastewater treatment at Te Anau’s end is of a high level and will not require upgrading in several years.
‘‘We live in a World Heritage Area and we don’t want to see that tampered with,’’ Kremer says.
‘‘We don’t want to do anything that undermines this area; we want to keep that pristine image.’’
I believe you s... in your own backyard, you don’t do it in someone else’s backyard.
Ruth Shaw, Manapouri resident and co-ordinator of Fiordland Sewage Options