Peter Greatbatch says the Akitio wastewater system is failing. Photo / NZME
Peter Greatbatch says the Akitio wastewater system is failing. Photo / NZME
A privately-owned wastewater scheme at Akitio will remain so but Tararua District Council has opted to provide assistance in looking at options to improve the scheme.
Council had been asked to consider taking over the Akitio Beach Community Wastewater scheme, which is currently owned by the James Bunz Family Trust.
The implications of taking over the scheme, as well as what it could mean with the Three Waters reform, were matters under consideration.
Akitio Beach Community and Ratepayers Association came along to the council meeting last week to talk to councillors about the scheme.
Treasurer Sandra Cornell told councillors the association had been incorporated in 2018 and now had more than 100 members.
One of the aims of the association was to support the renourishment of the beach and foreshore by promoting and implementing science-based solutions relating to the wider Akitio community, she said.
President Peter Greatbatch said mistakes had been made at the start of the scheme. Resource consent was obtained in 1997, although council apparently had no record of that.
The wastewater system is a serious concern for Akitio Beach ratepayers. Photo / NZME
"There's very little record of monitoring from the Regional Council," he said.
Those people who were on the system had acted in good faith, thinking they were doing the right thing by getting rid of their greywater.
Greatbatch said the system was failing and he had come to council looking for a solution.
"Not just for residents but for the whole of the beach."
Council was approached last year by the trust to take over the scheme, which served the campground, boat club and some residential houses.
Three options were considered, with one being that council took over the system.
However, this option would require certain issues to be addressed including upgrades and potential ongoing issues with odour and wastewater ponding effects.
A second option would be to establish a new wastewater scheme for all of Akitio, which would impact rates.
The third option was for council to not take over the scheme.
Infrastructure group manager Chris Chapman said those options had been assessed and the implications considered.
"I'm conscious that this is a difficult decision for councillors to make," he said.
"Due largely to the significant financial implications, the current recommendation is that council does not take over the existing scheme.
"That's not to say, however, that council can't, through staff, work with the community to find alternative solutions."
Councillor Peter Johns was concerned that if council took over the scheme, it would be set up for "massive liabilities".
"I feel it's fair that staff assist ratepayers out there to look at options without any obligation on council, at this stage anyway, to do anything further than offer assistance."
In answer to Councillor Erana Peeti-Webber's question of how it would look under the Three Waters Reform, Chapman told councillors that his information from the Department of Internal Affairs was that with community water systems, councils legally had to assume responsibility for them, but that didn't include wastewater as well.
