Opinion: Christchurch City Council in a no-win situation with Bromley residents surrounded by the stink

The two wastewater treatment plants being excavated at the heart of the stink. Photo / Christchurch City Council

OPINION

I feel very sorry for the residents living on the edge of the poo-ponds in Christchurch.

What a total disaster.

Residents locked in their homes, windows shut tight, everyone trying to keep the Bromley stink bomb out of their own sanctuary - their homes.

For eight months locals have put up with the poo-pong, after a fire occurred at the very plant which is supposed to treat the city's waste and keep it odourless.

For four weeks the Council has hammered away at disposing of the hundreds of tonnes of putrid burnt waste that was the source of the smell.

And I agree that the Council has done a good job at the excavation, once it got started.

But it's still not good enough for the residents, who have basically kept their mouths shut and their nostrils closed – until now.

First the stink, then came the mutterings, then the Council ramped up their communication, and then finally this month - some action. Finally!

But for most residents, it's all come too late. Far too late.

At Tuesday's public meeting, called by the Council to update residents on the situation, you could have cut the air with a knife.

I bet Council staff were upbeat going into the community meeting in the knowledge that they had almost cleaned out the first of two burnt-out treatment plants.

Even so, after 30 minutes of sharing the good news – the questions and accusations came thick and fast.

"What gives you the right to s**t in my house every day?"

"The buck stops here - you are useless."

"My son wants to punch the walls, he is so sick of the smell."

It is a no-win situation for the Council.

Try as hard as they can to keep residents update, whatever the Council do won't be good enough.

At the heart of the tension and discontent are the myriad delays the Council had when attempting to deal with the stinking mess early on.

And for one resident it is a story of real heartbreak.

Once hailing from the designated 'red zone' back during the 'quakes, Sharyn Fullard esaped with her husband and family to Bromley - and is now stuck in the stink.

She has been sick for the last six months. Her house itself doesn't mean so much to her, but the health of her husband and son does.

She told the meeting that "it's not fair".

The $200 given to support her goes nowhere, with $50 paid out every time she visits the doctor. To illustrate the point, she has just bought an air purifier for $600.

She, like many other residents, are at their wits' ends.

What is worse is that the pong is now coming from the poo-ponds, not the wastewater treatment plant, and at this time of the year it is getting even worse.

The poo-ponds don't work very well in colder weather, and the stink clings to the air and somehow even seeps into houses through the downlights on the calm winter days.

Council has given a guarantee that the pong will be gone by September 7th.

If it doesn't, there will be all hell to pay.