Editorial: Broader inquiry needs to start soon

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

THE STORY so far ...

Whanganui District Council is to spend in the order of $40 million on a new wastewater treatment plant.

That has had the effect of adding approximately 0.8 per cent to the proposed average rates rise of 4.5 per cent for the coming year, with more to come in the following years.

The cost of this project has alarmed some citizens and, indeed, a council-commissioned report said affordability of the upgrade would be an issue for those on low incomes, of whom there are a good number here.

There are those who believe a less expensive plant is viable, and there are also a good number concerned about what has happened at the plant since it was put into service in 2007.

Differing views of the plant's short life and rapid decline into failure abound, the council taking the perspective that the original design was at fault and pursuing a legal case against designers MWH Global.

A lot of views, a lot of conflicting figures, and a substantial appetite for some concrete answers.

The legal action, of necessity, meant that an investigation into the plant's demise could not proceed. But that lawsuit has now been settled, though the outcome remains a secret.

So now is the time for council to grasp the nettle and hold an inquiry into the whole rather messy - and costly - affair.

In January 2013, a motion for a full review of the decisions behind the commissioning of the plant was put before council.

Deputy mayor Hamish McDouall said in the Chronicle in February this year that, with the resolution of the MWH Global case, he expected that motion to be revived.

"We must examine how council ended up paying tens of millions of dollars for something that didn't work," he said.

We would all concur with that sentiment.

I would suggest the inquiry should be widened to not just the decisions leading to the plant's 2007 baptism, but to also include what happened subsequently.

There are, of course, the "heads-must-roll" brigade who want someone to blame and punish. But blame is a negative force and often unhelpful.

Some plain honest answers do not have to cost anyone their job, but they are what the Whanganui public, who are paying the bill, deserve.

Such an inquiry should be an open affair with full disclosure to the public. It needs to include at least one voice independent of councillors and staff - and it needs to start soon.