Contamination threat `extreme' in harbour

It stinks and it's a health risk, says John Hendriks.
While Bay of Islands residents worry about getting sick from contaminated shellfish, the Reotahi Bay man says "here they just get sick from walking on the beach".
Whangarei Heads locals are fuming at a proposed delay on their sewerage upgrade, which would hook up communities from McLeod Bay to Urquharts Bay to Whangarei's wastewater system.
The council's draft community plan delays stage three of the project by three years - despite the same document rating health and environmental risks from septic tank overflows in the area as "extreme". Locals, developers and health officials say the delay puts public health at risk and hampers growth. The area's clay soil means older septic tanks do not work efficiently, and heavy rain can cause overflows.
In January, the Whangarei District Council told locals the scheme would go ahead over the next two years at a cost of $16.5million. The new plan pushes the upgrade out to 2009-2013, the delay lifting the price to $19.5million.
Mr Hendriks would rather see money diverted from a proposed events centre and council assets sold off to free up cash. He's expecting more than 50 submissions from unhappy locals.
Coastal councillor Robin Lieffering stresses the scheme has a user-pays component, and wants it done now, at the current price. "The council is really only being a bank, borrowing money and doing the physical work. Eventually the people out here will pay for the scheme," she said.
Under the draft community plan, local ratepayers would contribute around $3500 over five years, while new residential subdivision owners would need to cough up nearly $20,000.
"Nobody wants to load up with debt - but nobody wants to see us polluting the harbour," she said.
Others agree it's a juggling act. Cr Frank Newman accepts the job needs to be done sooner. "It's not a question of the Heads scheme and more debt. It's a question of prioritising capital works and admin costs," he said. Cr Lieffering is also concerned a delay could foil development in an up-and-coming area: "In encouraging development ... council has a moral obligation to see through its promises."
Quadcon Properties director David Beard - the developer behind Sunset Heights subdivision in McLeod Bay - is frustrated the goalposts are being moved. While no firm decisions had been made when sections started selling a couple of years ago, Mr Beard was open with buyers about the possibility they could need septic tanks.
"People don't go out and buy sections because there's a sewerage scheme going in, but if they do know it's going in it's a big plus."
Last June the council told him the scheme was going ahead within two years, and he's upset by the "about face". He says the council needs to reprioritise in view of the health risks. On top of $120,000 he has spent on underground pipes, Mr Beard has forked out $66,000 in council sewerage contributions, and is about to pay a further $35,000 for infrastructure. "They're sitting on my money," he said. "I don't mind them having it provided they're going to be using it for the purpose intended."
A council application to the Ministry of Health for sanitary subsidy funding could see the Government put several million dollars into the scheme, but Northland Public Health Unit's Mark Stroud said that money could be siphoned off by other regions if the council leaves its run too late. He said the third stage of the project would solve "most if not all" health issues stemming from septic tanks.
Submissions on the draft community plan, which lays out the council's spending priorities for the next 10 years, close on May 18.
According to the Northland Regional Council, on one occasion last summer bacteria levels at Taurikura Bay rocketed to more than 14 times the acceptable limit. Urquharts Bay registered four times the acceptable level once over the summer period, while McLeod Bay was "potentially unsuitable for swimming" one week out of 12.