Stock effluent depot to head north

A new public stock effluent disposal service is likely to be located in the rural north of Whangarei, after former city mayor Stan Semenoff pulled out of a funding partnership for a facility in the industrial area south of the city.
The new site is an unspecified area in Sale Yard Rd, a short loop route on the eastern side of State Highway 1 at Kauri.
A stock effluent drop-off for Whangarei is part of a network of three being developed around the north as part of a government-driven initiative to cut pollution from stock truck spillages.
The mid and far north will be served by a site at Pakaraka in the Bay of Islands; the west by an enlarged existing private operation at Dargaville. The sites are being developed by New Zealand Transport Agency and local government partnerships.
Mr Semenoff plans to build a large stock transfer "hub" on land he has owned for several years in South End Ave, which he has developed as a business estate. The project attracted a storm of protest from the South End business community when it was announced last year.
The hub's effluent disposal component would have been developed as a public facility by a partnership between Mr Semenoff, who runs a large trucking business, the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Whangarei District Council, co-ordinated by the NRC's Stock Effluent Working Group. SEWG is a multi-agency group with representatives from all the local authorities, NZTA and national road carriers.
An urgent search for an alternative site began a few weeks ago, after Mr Semenoff verbally advised the working group that his project's effluent drop-off system would not be available to other stock transporters. No written confirmation was received but the NZTA acted quickly to commission consultants to identify alternative sites. Working group members are currently reviewing the report, which recommends a site in Sale Yard Rd.
Steve Westgate, working group chair, told the NRC transport committee that NZTA and the Whangarei District Council had been "tremendously supportive" of the location. He said the detailed design documents for the proposed Pakaraka site had been completed and were with the relevant local authorities and the NZTA. Construction should be under way within the next few weeks.
Mr Semenoff has not been available for comment.