Protester takes direct approach against 'stinking' Mangamuku Stream

Jude Sebastien de St. Germain de Angulo pointing out the polluted state of Kaikohe's Mangamuku Stream to Northland MP Matt King

Kaikohe's Jude Sebastien de St. Germain de Angulo said Mayor John Carter had promised to looked into his concerns about the pollution of Mangamuku Stream, but he had heard no more — so on Monday he took the direct approach.

He also had a message for Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, after neither he nor his office replied to his emails regarding the grey water he said was going straight into the Mangamuku Stream, at the end of the town's main street. Nor had he heard from Mr Jones' party leader, deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.

While Mr Jones had said he wanted to get his Kaikohe cousins off the sofa, there were reserves and waterways that had been totally "trashed out" with rubbish and needed cleaning up and looking after, he said.

Mr de Angulo said laundry and other grey water was running directly into the stream.
Northland Regional Council had asked him to locate the source of the problem, which he did, "but they totally ignored that". Then someone from the Far North District Council had had a look, but did nothing.

However, Far North District Council compliance manager Darren Edwards says compliance officers had visited Mangamutu Stream several times to confirm Mr de Angulo's reports that grey water was getting into the stream.

On March 14 an officer tracked the grey water to a rented property where laundry water was being discharged on to the road, from where it found its way into the stream via storm water drains. The owner of the property had been traced, and agents managing the property contacted.

They had arranged for a plumber to remedy the problem.

Mr de Angulo had believed the pollution was coming from houses on Fairview Road, and possibly one on Windsor Road. The grey water, which he said could be smelled, especially in the morning, was coming from a pipe on Fairview Road and running down the gutter, forming stinking puddles, then into the stream.

Mr Edwards said he wanted to thank Mr de Angulo for alerting the council to the pollution of the stream.

"I appreciate his frustration at the time it has taken to remedy this, but hope he understands that confirming and tracing the source, and then contacting the owner of the private property, took some time," he said.

He understood that plumbing work to fix the problem would be carried out "as soon as possible."