Beach residents fight creek effluent plan

By PAUL YANDALL


WAIHI - Residents of Waihi Beach whose properties are threatened by erosion are preparing to fight part of an $18 million sewerage scheme.

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council wants to use a creek to discharge effluent.

The council received final approval last month to build a sewage treatment plant that will discharge effluent into one of three creeks that runs on to the beach.

Building of the plant is due to begin in October.

It will start operating by the middle of next year, replacing three smaller sewage plants catering for the area.

Waihi Beach Protection Society spokesman Graham Cleary said the new plant would present a double hazard for locals.

"We've been trying to solve the problem of erosion here for years, and those creeks are the main culprits.

"Now they want to use them to discharge sewage into the beach. It's just crazy.

"I'm amazed that there are still people out there in this day and age who think it's all right to run sewage out over a beach."

Mr Cleary said an Environment Court challenge to the council's resource consent to discharge the effluent was abandoned last month after residents realised they would probably not win.

Residents in the town of 3500 wanted the three creeks diverted through a series of small dams that would eventually discharge at the top of Tauranga Harbour.

But opposition from local Maori, who objected to the running of effluent over Maori land, has practically killed that option.

Resident Maureen Black said she had watched erosion eat away near her beachfront property for the past 50 years.

"They say the creeks are the source of the problem," she said.

"Now they're going to build the [sewage] plant to use them. What can we do?"

Mrs Black's own attempts to start building a rock wall to protect her property were stopped in 1996 because she did not have resource consent.

Western Bay of Plenty councillor Norm Bruning said the discharge would be "high-grade effluent," and the erosion problem would be addressed by the council later.

He said more than 60 options had been explored before deciding on the creek discharge plan.

Three Mile Creek, located about halfway along Waihi Beach, would carry the discharge a kilometre before reaching the sea.

"The sewage working party has worked on this for years and this is the best option for residents," said Mr Bruning.

"It's the best value-for-money solution and it will improve the situation out there immensely."

The council's director of engineering, Gary Main, said Waihi Beach had been plagued by sewage seepage problems for the past few years, particularly after heavy rain.

The new plant would have the capacity to discharge up to 4000 cu m of treated effluent a day.

Property owners would pay an extra $500 to $600 a year each in rates for the scheme.