Te Kura O Matapihi School principal Tui Rolleston in front of an air relief valve. Photo / George Novak
Te Kura O Matapihi School principal Tui Rolleston in front of an air relief valve. Photo / George Novak
Te Kura O Matapihi school and nearby residents are calling for urgent action to fix a stinky problem with one of the air relief valves on the southern pipeline.
It is not the community's first issue with the controversial $107 million wastewater pipeline since it became operational in February 2019.
Principal Tui Rolleston said despite several attempts by Tauranga City Council to resolve the issue, a foul odour was regularly expelled from the pipeline's air vent opposite the school.
"Sometimes the really horrible pong, which smells like rotten eggs, is so overpowering we cannot take the kids out on to the field and it also impacts on some of the classrooms.
"It's really embarrassing when we have visitors coming to the kura [school] and we need to explain why there is such a bad smell around the school," she said.
The teacher said sometimes the children complained but other times not so much. "It's been a problem for so long it has become normal in their lives to live with the smell of s*** wafting over the school grounds and into some of our classrooms."
Matapihi resident Brooke Williams said she, her husband and two children had lived opposite the kura for about five years.
Their front door was about 30m from the stinky air vent, directly opposite the school's bus parking bay and sports field.
Williams said they had complained to the council a number of times over the past two years and despite several attempts to fix it, the problem continues.
"It depends on which way the wind is blowing, but on and off the foul pong can hang around for some time.
"It embarrassing, especially in summer when we have people visiting and we're outside having a barbecue and the children are playing in the pool."
A southern pipeline air vent relief valve is located about 20-30 metres from Te Kura o Matapihi on Matipihi Rd. Photo / George Novak
She said the odour problem was what she and other residents feared would happen when they were consulted over the pipeline, despite the council's assurances it would not be an issue.
"As a community, we don't want lip service promises anymore, we need urgent action to resolve the stink problem once and for all. We have waited long enough," she said.
Wally Potts, Tauranga City Council's drainage services manager, said the pipeline had several air relief valves that operated as and when needed.
Te Kura o Matapihi's proximity to one of the air valves meant the Kura and some local houses did experience odour issues at times.
"We have trialled several solutions and these were successful temporarily. We are now designing a full odour treatment solution for the site.
"We will be able to present draft designs to the Matapihi community for feedback and discussion [this] week."
Potts said once that feedback was received the council would design and procure the selected option.
On April 21, about 80 cubic metres of sewerage ended up Tauranga Harbour after an air vent valve was taken off the pipeline for maintenance by contractors.
An isolation valve was not securely sealed.
Potts said investigations by the council, contractors and Bay of Plenty Regional Council to find out whether extra preventative protocols were needed were ongoing.
Warning signs about collecting shellfish in the area had been removed and water quality and shellfish testing showed no further impact from the overflow, he said.
A community meeting was held with Matapihi residents to discuss the overflow and a working group of staff and community representatives would work through any proposals which come out of the investigations.
Matapihi Ratepayers and Residents Association chairman Greg Milne said he hoped the council could quickly resolve these issues.
"I think the council is trying its best to get on top of these problems and the council has ramped up their response, but the matter needs to pursued with some urgency.
"I don't blame the council ... to fix it needs an engineering solution which will take time, but having bad smells of raw sewage impacting on the school and locals is unacceptable."
Hayden Henry of Ngai Tukairangi hapu agreed.
He said the stink problem on top of the recent wastewater overflow was what he and others residents envisaged when they opposed the pipeline plan.
"It is very disappointing. When you are talking about air quality, that's a health and safety issue and something that should not be happening given promises earlier made.
He was pleased that the council was coming back to the Matapihi community this week with options to solve the odour problem.
