Council considers sewerage proposal in secret

The Kaipara District Council is considering a secret new proposal for the $17 million Ecocare sewerage scheme planned for Mangawhai.
The council met behind closed doors last week to look at a proposal from Australian company EarthTech and the public was again excluded when Ecocare came up for discussion at a special council meeting in Dargaville yesterday.
The EarthTech submission follows the council withdrawal of Ecocare negotiations with its original contractor for the project, Simon Engineering, which has gone into liquidation.
Also on the agenda yesterday was a staff recommendation for the minimum reserve contributions fund balance to be set at $250,000, with $1 million for Mangawhai to be separately invested on a medium term basis.
More than $1 million of reserve contributions has been collected in the Mangawhai area over the past 12 to 18 months from the very high level of subdivision taking place there.
The total reserve contributions fund stands at $1.3 million. The staff recommendation was made to ensure protection of the fund for prudent future use, particularly given the amount of reserve contributions collected in the Mangawhai area.
The recommendation was also made to ensure the council had sufficient funds to be able to quickly respond to strategic opportunities.
The Mangawhai Structure Plan 2005 has identified strategic reserve and public space development opportunities, including Mangawhai Park and Mangawhai Heads Recreation Reserve, which are expected to require substantial funding.
The council decisions on Ecocare and the reserve contributions were unavailable at edition time.