Charges laid against Hastings District Council have been slammed by Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule as an "unwelcome distraction" from finding the cause of Havelock North's water contamination.
During August campylobacter in the suburb's water supply caused about 5200 people to become ill, and two elderly women, with underlying medical conditions, died while sick with the bacteria.
A Hawke's Bay Regional Council (HBRC) investigation into the source of the contamination was announced later that month, as was an independent Government Inquiry.
Yesterday HBRC announced they had laid two charges against the district council for the unlawful taking of water, after the investigation found evidence of a breach of the maintenance conditions of their resource consent.
The district council will appear at Hastings District Court on November 28. An hour later, the second hearing of the Government Inquiry into the source of the gastro outbreak will commence in a separate courtroom.
Mr Yule expressed his disappointment at the timing, stating the prosecution was "very much a second order issue".
The bores in question are those on Brookvale Rd - which supply Havelock North with water, and have been closed since late August. Mr Yule's understanding was there had been a technical breach of the resource conditions of bore number 1, and 2.
If a breach is proved the resource consent - granted by HBRC- no longer permits the taking of water.
However, Mr Yule said "a technical breach of a resource consent that ended up being heard on the same day as this inquiry in my view is an unwelcome distraction to what we're all trying to do [which is] get to the bottom of it".
"I believe actually that the people of Hawke's Bay and Havelock North deserve better from our local authorities in terms of how we manage our various respective roles, and ultimately what they want is to get to the bottom of what happened," he said.
At the first hearing of the inquiry, chair Honourable Justice Lyn Stephens stated the inquiry and HBRC's investigation under the RMA were separate processes.
A spokesman for the inquiry has also stated it would continue to do its work as required by the terms of reference.
"This work will be unaffected by the existence of a prosecution commenced by the regional council, which is an entirely separate matter," he said.
HBRC chief executive Andrew Newman said the council had "no choice" but to lay charges given what the investigation uncovered.
"It's also pretty relevant that we've now provided all the information from our
investigation to the inquiry which is there to help them get to the bottom of the fundamental matter, being the contamination issue," he said.
HBRC are responsible for managing the quality of the water in the region, so they monitor compliance of conditions for resource consents.
Mr Yule noted that in monitoring the consent conditions, HBRC had consistently reported that the condition in question had been complied with.
With about 8000 known bores across Hawke's Bay, Mr Newman said the standard process was to use instruments to assess water quality, and with detailed examinations done if a particular issue was found.
"And that is exactly what's happened in this particular case so the information that has arisen due to questions around the water, that's driven the investigation."
Mr Newman was unsure when the evidence of a technical breach had been found, because it was through a testing regime, rather than a single event.
"On the basis of the detailed investigation we've done in relation to two bores that they clearly didn't comply with an obligation to maintain the condition of those bores in a safe manner."
Mr Newman explained the charge centred on issues that might arise in the water surrounding the bores, particularly the groundwater.
Yesterday Tukituki MP Craig Foss said: "While we have to respect any actions taken by the regional council, at the end of the day the residents of Havelock North just want answers.
"They rightly deserve to have confidence in the safety of their drinking water and confidence in their councils."
The maximum penalty for each charge is a fine not exceeding $600,000.