Editorial: Is this the way to go?

GROWING opposition to Whanganui's proposed $42 million wastewater treatment plant, including objections from two of the city's biggest employers (and biggest waste producers), has made at least a couple of councillors question whether council is going down the right path.

Will it be enough to prompt a re-consideration of the March 9 decision?

In calling earlier this month for an extraordinary meeting to re-assess the need for such an expensive facility, Ratepayers' Association chairman Graham Adams pointed out that five councillors needed to sign up to force the issue.

There may only be four willing to give it a go.

In yesterday's Chronicle, Jack Bullock called for a Crown manager to be appointed to address the matter. This, too, could be a long shot as the council appears to have gone through due process and arrived at a democratic decision.

That does not make it the right decision, but a betting man might be inclined to put his money on the new plant going ahead.

And that despite the evidence of the old plant working when operated properly with all its aerators intact, and despite the threat of the two companies - Affco Imlay and Tasman Tanning - not to involve themselves with the new plant and therefore not to contribute to its costs via trade waste fees.

Affco and Tasman's stance might prove a game-changer. But, bluff or not, the council is so far refusing to blink, and chief executive Kym Fell may yet be able to cut a deal.

Any delay or impasse, of course, could suit the industries which, with the failed plant now closed down, and screened but otherwise untreated waste going out to sea, will have seen the cost of getting rid of their waste significantly reduced.

And delay is an issue for the Whanganui council with its Horizons permit for discharge to sea running out in 2019 and the need to have some form of new operation in place and functioning within three years.

So far, so unsatisfactory for the people of Whanganui who face a sizeable rates hike which may or may not be necessary - and with any inquiry some way off may never get the true story.