KEY POINTS:
Plans to restrict temperatures of Rotorua geothermal pools are being scrapped.
The change is one of several made to the Rotorua District Council's proposed new geothermal safety bylaw which councillors were expected to sign off at last night's full council meeting.
There was opposition from the owners of private and commercial hot pools to the inclusion in the proposed new bylaw of a recommended temperature restriction.
The proposed bylaw was first presented to councillors almost a year ago but the latest draft contains changes, following submissions.
The death in 2005 of Rotorua man Tane Ruhi, who fell into a 100C thermal bath at Ohinemutu, partly prompted the new rules, but the review is also a requirement of the Local Government Act.
The new bylaw was initially to have included rules limiting the temperature of hot pools to a maximum of 40C and allowing the council to check pool temperatures and hydrogen sulphide levels annually.
But the council's statutory hearings committee, which heard the submissions, was recommending there be no temperature restrictions and that hydrogen sulphide level tests would be carried out every six months.
Committee chairwoman Maureen Waaka said after a strong submission from a commercial pool owner and receiving feedback it was felt a temperature restriction was unnecessary and common sense would prevail.
"Commercial pool owners are pretty well acquainted with what temperatures people like in pools."
She said hydrogen sulphide levels should be tested regularly and it was felt six-monthly tests would not be onerous.
Polynesian Spa managing director Martin Lobb said he was pleased to hear there would not be temperature restrictions. "I think that's great."
He was against the 40C temperature limit as a lot of his clients like to bathe in waters a lot hotter than that.
"This allows me to keep my hottest public pools at 42C."
He had no problem with having to test for hydrogen sulphide every six months.
The bylaw will apply only to those parts of the Rotorua Geothermal Field where geothermal fluid is known to contain hydrogen sulphide gas.
The council's regulatory services manager, Jim Nicklin, said some areas didn't contain hydrogen sulphide gas, including Whakarewarewa, Waikite Valley and Soda Springs at Rotoma. However, it did not mean those areas were exempt from the bylaw.
"If hydrogen sulphide gas becomes evident [in those areas] in the future they will be covered by these clauses."
Initially the council wanted all disused bores filled in. However, the committee was now recommending that only disused bores which are deemed by an authorised officer to present a potential safety hazard be filled in.
- DAILY POST
