Wastewater Capacity Blocks Up Future Greytown Development

Thursday, 18 July 2024, 7:03 pm
Article: Emily Ireland - Local Democracy Reporter

Growth has ground to a halt in Greytown, with the council putting a stop on new wastewater connections because the treatment plant is at capacity.

It means plans for a 200-lot development, which would have grown Greytown’s population by 10-15%, would not go ahead until the matter is sorted.

The district’s mayor says he has “no concerns” about the stop to connections and that it would “be a mistake to overreact” to the news.

“Quite clearly we do need to make sure we have infrastructure in place before growth,” he said.

Consents and permits that have already been approved will be honoured, as would consents that are in the process of being approved, he said.

Meanwhile, Greytown ward councillor Alistair Plimmer said the stop would have “a very chilling effect on economic growth”.

The council also put a halt on new wastewater connections in Martinborough last year, leaving just Featherston open to new urban growth.

Plimmer cited underinvestment and a push to keep rates low as the key drivers for the current situation.

“I’ve been warning about these issues for years but people don’t want to pay for it.

“Now you have an issue with the system and it will be more expensive to fix now than yesterday.”

Greytown councillor Martin Bosley said the pause on new connections was “a handbrake on growth”.

He said if people wanted lower rates, “we need more people living here” to have a bigger rating base.

Now growth was being restricted in two towns - “it’s a Catch-22 situation”.

The pause on new wastewater connections in Greytown came after a recent technical assessment by Wellington Water Limited (WWL) on the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

It was initiated after the review of a pre-application assessment for an application of a potential 200 lot development planned for Greytown, a council statement said.

“The assessment and specialist advice from WWL considered the wastewater system constraints, risks, and opportunities to enable new development connections to support growth in Greytown.

“Greytown wastewater treatment plant currently does not have the capacity to support a development of this size.”

Council chief executive said she appreciated the impact the pause could have on Greytown’s short-term growth.

“We are balancing advice from Wellington Water to protect plant capacity and honouring current applications to connect to Greytown’s network.

“New connections will be paused only for as long as necessary, there are already a number of initiatives in play that are addressing capacity constraints in Greytown.”

Initiatives include a wastewater network capacity study for Greytown which will provide information required to plan and design options for upgraded or new infrastructure.

This has been urgently prioritised and will be completed this year.

Planning for the desludging of the plant is also underway with phase one scheduled for the current financial year, and the remainder of the work to be completed next year.

Following the capacity study, an understanding of the capital investment required will support decisions and priorities during our 2025-34 long term planning process.

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

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