The Rotorua Wastewater Treatment plant. Photo / File
The Rotorua Wastewater Treatment plant. Photo / File
Residents have until Monday to make a submission on the 15 resource consents lodged for the upgrade of the existing Rotorua Wastewater Treatment Plant and the discharge of treated wastewater to the Te Arikiroa Channel of Lake Rotorua at Puarenga Bay (Sulphur Bay).
In 2013, the Environment Court directed the Rotorua Lakes Council to find an alternative effluent disposal method to replace the irrigation of treated wastewater in Whakarewarewa Forest following strong, ongoing concerns from tangata whenua.
The council had been using the forest spraying disposal method since 1991 but made a commitment to stop doing so by December 2019.
The wastewater upgrade was first outlined in 2015 with a projected cost of $37 million over 35 years.
Rotorua's wastewater is treated daily at a central plant on Te Ngae Rd, in the Sanatorium Reserve.
This reserve was gifted by Ngāti Whakaue for public purposes under the 1880 Fenton Agreement.
Currently, the plant processes about 20 million litres of water a day and the upgrade would lift that to 70 million litres.
The proposed land contact bed and discharge structure for wastewater entering Lake Rotorua. Image / Supplied
Te Tatau o Te Arawa chairman Te Taru White said he was satisfied the council had carried out "an intensive process of consultation over the past three years" to understand and ease iwi concerns about the wastewater upgrade.
He said water treatment and discharge back into the lake was "highly emotive and sensitive" for iwi, because "maintaining 'te mauri o te wai' the spiritual essence of the water was critical".
"For decades Te Arawa iwi have watched their lakes become increasingly polluted and our traditional food stocks depleted," he said.
"This cannot continue and I know Te Arawa would applaud any efforts to remedy this with appropriate cultural considerations.
"The wastewater upgrade is a partial remedy along these lines coupled with the regional council's initiative to reduce nutrient leaching from farming into our lakes and waterways.
"It will be our future generations who will attest to the success or not of what is proposed."
Ten of the upgrade consents are sought from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and five from Rotorua Lakes Council itself, however, the council has requested for all 15 to be directly referred to the Environment Court.
This means that after submissions close on Monday at 5pm, the normal council hearing and decision-making process will be bypassed, and the Environment Court will decide whether to approve the applications instead.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has been managing the collection of submissions.
It had received about 30 as of yesterday .
Submitters will be given the opportunity to be heard in the Environment Court.
