West Coast Regional Council Cracks Down On Dodgy Sewerage Systems

Sunday, 9 March 2025, 9:34 pm
Article: Lois Williams - Local Democracy Reporter

The West Coast’s three district councils have been put on notice to lift their game and fix dodgy sewerage plants.

Householders relying on old septic tanks may also come under scrutiny in the coming months.

The West Coast Regional Council is taking what it calls ‘an enhanced approach’ to wastewater compliance and monitoring, councillors heard this week.

In other words, a crackdown – and one that has been a long time coming, according to a staff report.

Regulatory manager Jocelyne Allen said investigation revealed all three districts had a history of non-compliance, including unconsented discharges from their sewage treatment plants.

At least two were operating on expired plans and relied on Section 124 consents, which were intended by the Resource Management Act to be temporary.

And Hokitika’s consents would expire next January, Ms Allen said.

“But that’s not inconsistent with national statistics: 20 percent of the country’s wastewater treatment plants are in fact in that situation of having expired consents, sitting on a Section 124.”

Continued non-compliance (exceeding discharge limits) posed risks to public health, was culturally abhorrent to Poutini Ngāi Tahu and was increasingly unacceptable, she reported.

West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) chief executive Darryl Lew said the report was the first of its kind.

“This is probably the first time you have had a full snapshot of District Council wastewater compliance in the council’s history," he told councillors.

The regional council did not want to be in a situation where it had to prosecute other councils for breaching their consents, Mr Lew said.

“It’s the same ratepayers … it’s in nobody’s interests. But at the same time, we have a regulatory responsibility to uphold.

“We cannot be in a situation where we take action against dairy farmers, miners and meat works for illegal discharges and not against district councils.”

The District Council’s three chief executives were now working with the Regional Council staff on action plans to address their wastewater problems, Mr Lew said.

Cr Peter Ewen said the WCRC should insist the districts made firm financial commitments to the plans in their Long Term Plans.

“The last thing I want to see is these issues kicked to touch again – if they’ve been non-compliant for over a decade that’s cutting them a pretty big bit of slack. Politically we’ve got to grow a couple and get it done.”

WCRC chair Peter Haddock said staff had his total support.

“Grey District put in a very good wastewater system but until every property separates its stormwater and sewage, we’re still getting raw sewage running down the stormwater [drains] into the river and you’ve got whitebaiters, fishermen on the end of that.”

Makaawhio’s representative on the council, Jackie Douglas, said the previous Labour government’s 3 Waters Plan had led to a level of complacency in district councils, as they waited for funding for new infrastructure.

The Government water regulator Taumata Arowai was about to bring down national standards governing water discharges, and these would affect the regional council’s resource consent processes, Mr Lew said.

Any treatment plants with consents expiring soon, like Hokitika’s, would get an automatic two-year extension to allow them to work on designs and upgrades of their plants.

“But councils still need to be complying with their existing consent until then - it’s not a free pass to do anything they want until 2028,” Mr Lew warned.

Earlier in the meeting councillors raised questions about water quality in Lake Brunner and Lake Kaniere - the source of Hokitika’s public water supply.

Resource management chair Brett Cummings asked if a new subdivision at Cashmere Bay at Moana would have its own treatment plant.

Staff said nutrient levels in Lake Brunner were generally stable, but there were sometimes higher E.Coli levels at the bay, probably from birds.

“In new subdivisions we don’t generally find new septic systems cause problems - it’s more the old septic tanks we often find in communities built in the 70’s.”

Jacqui Douglas asked if the council had any reports on the state of Lake Kaniere given development in the area.

Staff said they carried out E.Coli testing to ensure the water was safe for swimming and levels fluctuated sometimes after heavy rain.

Mr Lew said staff would follow up with a paper on what might be causing those levels and potential actions the council could take.

There were housing developments around the West Coast on ageing septic systems, and the council might want to do some targeted monitoring to see if they were having an effect on waterways, Mr Lew said.

There was a critical housing shortage in the region, he noted.

And as mines brought more people to the Coast, and subdivisions increased, the council needed to think critically about whether they should all have septic tanks or proper treatment plants, he said.

Tourism growth was also putting pressure on wastewater systems, committee chair Cr Brett Cummings suggested.

His neighbour at Punakaiki had recently had to install a new septic system after raw sewage could be smelled in the drain behind her house, he said.

“A lot of the old baches there used to be occupied just on weekends. Now they’re Airbnbs and getting used every day. That’s something we ought to be aware of too,“ Cr Cummings said.

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

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