Tarawera sewerage scheme: Rotorua council supports project continuing

Signs against a sewerage scheme at sacred Lake Rotokākahi. Photo / Laura Smith

Work on a controversial sewerage scheme will continue after delays the local council says have added $400,000 to the project’s cost.

There is 10% remaining on stage one of the $29 million Tarawera Sewerage Scheme, a project that will see 446 homes connected to a wastewater reticulation system.

The scheme is designed to protect the environmental health of Lake Tarawera and keep untreated sewerage from entering it.

The most recent pause, which began more than two weeks ago, was for Rotorua Lakes Council to engage with mana whenua, who held concerns the pipeline risked environmental damage to the water and an area where tūpuna (ancestors) were buried nearby during the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption.

The lake is in the Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera rohe and is privately owned by iwi. It is overseen by the Lake Rotokākahi Board of Control, which believed there had been a lack of iwi consultation.

As works progressed to the lake last month people occupied iwi land surrounded by flags and protest signs.

They did not leave when works paused on August 30 as the council worked to address the concerns.

At a council meeting on Wednesday, elected members voted to continue works after an update from police, staff and contractors.

The decision was made in a public-excluded session.

A council statement said the risks were different now to when the project was approved in 2018.

It said the reason it was in a public-excluded part of the meeting was for commercial sensitivity and the council would share information with the community as the project progressed.

A tino rangatiratanga flag flies at tapu Lake Rotokākahi near Rotorua. Photo / Laura Smith

In follow-up questions from Local Democracy Reporting, a spokesperson said there have been daily conversations with iwi and mana whenua including with partners Tūhourangi Tribal Authority and Te Arawa Lakes Trust as well as the Rotokākahi Board of Control.

“With the increase in protest activity at the current work site, [the] council alongside our contractors and project partners, must now consider the safety risks for both staff working at the site, people travelling through the area and those people who have based themselves at Rotokākahi.”

They said more effort was needed to secure the worksite during the delays.

“Traffic management and security services remain at the worksite which does come at a significant cost – we estimate that the delays have contributed a further $400,000 to the project to date.”

This included costs associated with an injunction application it lodged earlier in the year, which sought to stop interference with the works.

The site was shut down in February after alleged incidents – including claims of a vehicle being driven at a contractor, verbal abuse and intimidation – prompted the application.

The injunction application was indefinitely adjourned – neither granted nor dismissed.

They were unaware of any incidents but the spokesperson said it had the option of urgently applying for an injunction should circumstances change.

Council infrastructure and environment general manager Stavros Michael previously said the scheme was a result of “extensive community consideration over many years”. This included iwi input.

Rotorua Lakes Council said in a statement the time physical works would restart would be an operational decision made by the chief executive in due course.

• This story has been updated to clarify the work has not yet restarted but the council has supported the project continuing. The last line has also been added for clarification.

Laura Smith is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. She previously reported general news for the Otago Daily Times and Southland Express, and has been a journalist since 2019.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.