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26. 2. 97
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT BY THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE CITY SERVICES COMMITTEE
19. THE ROLE OF THE CHRISTCHURCH WASTEWATER
Treatment Plant working party RR 4695
| Officer responsible | Author |
| Waste Manager | Walter Lewthwaite, Liquid Waste Manager |
| Corporate Plan Output: Liquid Waste |
The purpose of this report is to bring the Council up to date with progress on renewing the discharge consent for the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant, and to seek Council confirmation of the role of the consultation Working Party.
In August 1996 the Council endorsed a program of studies and public consultation leading to an application for new discharge consents for the Christchurch Wastewater Treatment Plant. As part of the consultation process, a Working Party representing a wide range of community interests has been operating under the leadership of Gay Pavelka, a professional facilitator, since late in 1996. Councillors O'Rourke, Evans and Wright were nominated to work with this group.
In preparation for developing an "Issues and Options" brief, the Working Party has been considering topics that might need to be studied. It is hoped the brief will be able to be brought to the Council in April or May.
Doubt has arisen about the role of the Working Party and whether the Council would take its recommendations seriously. While a particular budget program for plant upgrading has been presented to the Council, based on a study by consultants Beca-Steven, it is considered crucial to the consent process that the Council is seen to have an open mind on options that might be selected in the end.
To help remove these doubts, staff and Councillors gave the following explanation to the Working Party meeting on Monday 24 February:
The Council is required to prepare ten-year budgets for its activities. The Beca-Steven report was commissioned to provide the Council with an estimate of costs required to accommodate city growth and to identify potential impacts on resource consent issues. In arriving at the estimate of costs for long term budgeting only a small number of options was considered, not enough to cover the full range required by the Resource Management Act.
A full "Issues and Options" report will be carried out as part of the consent evaluation process, and all options will be considered and evaluated against desired environmental and cost outcomes. It is the task of the Working Party to develop a brief for the "Issues and Options" study for approval by the Council, and at the end of the consultation process to advise and recommend to the Council on the preferred options for treatment and a discharge consent application.
The Working Party then asked for the following resolution to be put before the Council:
"That the Christchurch City Council recognises the integrity, independence and important role of the Working Party in determining appropriate options for wastewater discharge from the Christchurch plant. The Council will give serious consideration without prejudice to the issues raised and to adoption of recommendations of the Working Party."
Chairman's
Recommendation: That the Council endorse the Working Party resolution.
CONSIDERED THIS 26TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 1997
MAYOR