The land was gifted to the former Martinborough Borough Council by George Pain in 1932 to be used as “a sports ground for the residents of Martinborough and as a playground for the children”.
A 1966 court order meant income generated from the land could be used to fund park, sport and recreation activities in Martinborough.
It was currently operating as a farm and was the site of the Martinborough Transfer Station.
In 2023, the council submitted a notice of designation to the Combined Wairarapa District Plan relating to all 84 hectares of Pain Farm for “the operation, maintenance, and improvement of a waste treatment and disposal facility”.
It said the designations were an effective long-term planning protection mechanism that allowed the council to operate, maintain and improve essential three water-related assets and provided certainty as to the nature of works council could carry out on any particular site.
The council has now withdrawn the designation because it could not provide the required information to the commissioner in time.
It still had a resource consent, granted in 2016, to dispose of treated wastewater to Pain Farm land; however, a spokesperson confirmed on Monday that negotiations were under way to secure an alternative site.
They said a decision regarding designation requirements would be made in the future.
In a minute issued after the district plan hearing, Commissioner David McMahon said there were matters “remaining in contention for the proposed designation”.
“Most notably, it would appear that the land that the Pain Farm Designation is located over is not solely owned by the Requiring Authority and rather is held by a trust.
“This being the case, it raises a question over whether an assessment of alternative sites and method has, or should have, been undertaken in accordance with Section 168A(3)(c) of the RMA (Resource Management Act).”
McMahon asked the council to provide a written explanation of the works that were proposed under the designation, to confirm whether the council had an interest in the land in accordance with the RMA, to confirm if an assessment of alternative sites and methods had been undertaken, and to confirm the reasonable necessity for having a designation over Pain Farm.
He also asked the council to confirm if its regional consent for Pain Farm had been given effect to and whether any conditions were necessary or volunteered for the proposed designation to ensure that land use adverse effects were appropriately managed.
In response, South Wairarapa District Council said it needed to further consider specific matters on authorising land-based waste disposal.
“Given the timing of the District Plan review and the direction provided by the Panel, it is not feasible to undertake this additional work within the current process”.
As a result, the council withdrew its current Notice of Requirement for the Pain Farm Designation.
A council spokesperson said the design of options for Martinborough’s wastewater treatment plant would be considered once the ponds had been emptied and stabilised.
“Next steps relating to a Notice of Requirement would occur at that point,” they said.
“Until negotiations have been concluded, there is no information that can be shared publicly regarding the land option or the legal investigations.”
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
