Councillors debate Akitio services at Tararua District Council meeting

Former TDC Projects Engineer Eric Bonny shows the insides of the new water treatment plant including the six large filters, installed in 2018 at Akitio.

At the January 26 Tararua District Council meeting, councillors discussed the issues of water supply and sewerage systems at Akitio in the Christmas/New Year period following a report from Infrastructure Group manager Chris Chapman which indicated a failure of both water and sewerage systems due to excessive demand.

The report said, "Large numbers of people at Akitio including significant numbers of freedom campers along the foreshore put extraordinary demand on the water scheme. High usage of public conveniences (toilets and showers) is assumed to have had a large impact.

"Unfortunately this asset was vandalised more than once – with inappropriate material (even stones) being put into the toilets requiring several visits from the plumber and doors being broken. Several properties had low water pressure and/or intermittent supply during this time."

It finished saying, "The system is now recharging and a huge thanks goes to Peter Greatbatch of the Akitio Ratepayers Association for his support and assistance in responding to these issues."

Back in December Peter Greatbatch attended the TDC monthly meeting seeking support to take over the existing private sewerage system which no longer is adequate, saying that it was vital to keep the beaches pristine.

After a lot of discussion about the options and detailed assessment of costs by council, the councillors reluctantly rejected the request with councillor Johns saying "it was a can of worms likely to cost council massively."

Once again in the January meeting the discussion about Akitio resumed with councillor Wards saying that on January 2 she counted 122 cars on the waterfront and the situation described by council, "she never wanted to see again."

Chief executive Bryan Nicholson said the issue did not just affect Akitio as people throughout New Zealand flooded the beaches on holidays. He said campervans and freedom campers were chief culprits but government legislation is due he hopes to require them to be self sufficient for water and sewerage disposal.

Councillor Sutherland reported that campervans were not the only issue because he had heard reports local baches were housing up to 20 people in the Christmas period.

Councillor Hull noted Waihi Falls suffered similar congestion and damage.

Mayor Collis said it is a lot of cost to the ratepayer to resolve these issues.

Visitor Tony Rhodes offered the idea of composting toilets to help resolve the sewerage issue.

The council has not neglected Akitio because in 2018 it installed a very high-tech water treatment system for the settlement. Back then it cost $180,000.

New well liners are about to be installed by council to protect the intake of water which flows into the water treatment plant.

Councillor Wards has issued a statement in the mayoral report post meeting. She writes:

"Beautiful scenery and stunning weather saw the numbers of visitors to Akitio hugely increase on previous years. The impact on our water, wastewater and environment was discussed in depth at the Akitio Ratepayers Association AGM on January2.

The commitment by this group of ratepayers to long-term sustainability and protection of this "tourist jewel" was evident to our mayor, me and council staff. Significant challenges lie ahead for council as it balances the costs of infrastructure requirements in our tourist spots with wider priorities in our district.

The forum with the Akitio ratepayers highlighted for me that we as a council need to be "careful what we wish for" when it comes to promotion of our iconic tourist destinations. The serious impact of hundreds of day trippers and "freedom campers" on the environment and council services was evident in the first few days of 2022.

Wise consultation with these communities as we move into annual plan processes will be important.