Ani McGuire (left), Tom McGuire, Uru-Te-Nganana, Rehan Kerehoma and Joni Abdur at Clive where an existing wastewater pipeline goes under the Clive River. In the distance are the reaches of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, where Hastings District Council plans to lay a pipeline beneath the river, from Kohupātiki to Whakatu. Photo / Doug Laing
Ani McGuire (left), Tom McGuire, Uru-Te-Nganana, Rehan Kerehoma and Joni Abdur at Clive where an existing wastewater pipeline goes under the Clive River. In the distance are the reaches of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, where Hastings District Council plans to lay a pipeline beneath the river, from Kohupātiki to Whakatu. Photo / Doug Laing
The laying of a wastewater pipe about 12 metres beneath a river at Clive could be stopped, despite ground work being done on a staging area for the drilling operation.
The offer was made by a Hastings District Council project manager at a meeting at Kohupatiki Marae on Thursday, givingthe community the chance to stage a wananga to decide on a preferred option.
The options are whether to proceed with drilling from the site near the marae off Farndon Rd, or plan a longer pipeline on an existing route east on Farndon Rd to cross over the river via the State High bridge.
But with contracts already in place, the community was told decisions would have to be made by late June, and dropping the under-river project would mean significant extra costs, including the increased capacity of current infrastructure in the area.
It would also cause funding and practical delays for the papakainga housing project wanted by everyone and which the pipeline would service, along with the marae, they were told.
Having received a resource consent application Hawke’s Bay Regional Council notified trustees of the Heretaunga Tamatea Settlement on April 11 last year. Having received no comments, it treated the matter on a non-notified basis and issued the consent with conditions.
It enables construction of the pipeline beneath Te Awa o Mokotūāraro, the name restored in 2023 to the waterway long otherwise known as the Clive River.
But mana whenua (Ngāti Hori ki Kohupātiki) were concerned about a dearth of communication.
At Kohupātiki on Wednesday, Ani McGuire said she did not know it was so well advanced until the start of last month when she saw marks on the ground for the since-completed site work, via an easement on their land.
In a statement, whānau said they were not against the housing development, but were worried about risks posed by the project, which they believe would be avoided by instead following the Farndon Rd route, on which they made a presentation at the meeting the next day.
There had been indications in the past that wastewater upgrading would be needed a some stage, but nothing on which the people could express their views or challenge the process, they said.
Tom McGuire, who in Operation Pātiki has worked with councils on protection and enhancement of the awa and environment since 2008, said it will be up to 20 metres below the surface, and added: “That’s halfway to the aquifer.”
A council report for the resource consent application, said the project “will have no more than minor adverse effects on the environment.”
“There are no adversely affected persons and no special circumstances exist,” it said. “Therefore this application can be processed on a non notified basis.”
“This river is not just a body of water — it’s our whakapapa, our identity,” the spokesperson said. “Yet decisions are being made with little to no genuine engagement with those who hold a deep, ancestral connection to this awa.”
They said that as kaitiaki of Te Awa o Mokotūāraro mana whenua were calling for the project to be stopped so that a transparent, inclusive process can be undertaken — “one that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights of those who have lived alongside and protected this river for generations.”
Kohupātiki whanau at the drilling staging area already prepared by Hastings District Council contractors for the laying of a wastewater pipeline beneath the river. They say they weren't properly consulted and there is an alternative. Photo / Doug Laing
The whānau say there are serious environmental concerns, in that the proposed pipeline raises the risk of long-term impacts on native species, ecosystems, and water quality “if it proceeds without robust protections and oversight”.
“Importantly, there is a workable alternative that could eliminate the need to cross beneath the river entirely,” they said.
“This option must be seriously considered as part of a responsible and respectful decision-making process,” they say.
Council staff at the meeting said five options had been considered, including under the river, and over the river at the highway bridge downstream and the rail bridge upstream.
They conceded some communication shortcomings.
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
