Katinka Visser can't get any respite from the putrid stench that permeates her Bromley home from the damaged Christchurch wastewater treatment plant, while another resident feels like dry-retching when the smell fills the air.
On the worst days Visser can't sleep or openwindows, her head hurts and her washing stinks.
"You don't want to breathe because it's sickening, it makes you nauseous. It's other people's shit that you feel like you're eating, tasting. It's disgusting," she said.
Almost six months after fire destroyed two trickling filters at the treatment plant, neighbours are increasingly desperate for the city council to better control the unbearable smell and worried about prolonged exposure to the odour.
"On bad days it's really, really bad. It gets to the stage where it will wake you up at night," she said.
"It will put you right off your breakfast, there's no way in the world that you'd feel like eating. It may not be toxic but it's pretty foul."
Mother of three Rebecca Tsukigawa has lived in Bromley for 10 years but has decided to move, partly because of the smell.
"It's sickening. It makes me dry retch," she said.
"I can't eat because I feel like I'm eating poo particles. You open your windows and all of a sudden you get a big whiff of shit. It's disgusting, absolutely disgusting."
Rodney Fletcher said the long wait for the problem to be fixed was unacceptable. Photo / RNZ
In the month to April 19 the city council had received 387 complaints about the smell, which is coming from two sources - the treatment plant's fire-damaged filters and the oxidation ponds.
The filters' roofs were destroyed in the November blaze so when it rains the rotting biomass trapped inside releases a pungent smell.
The council is appointing a contractor to remove about 26,000 cubic metres of hazardous material from the filters, in a process that could take up to seven months.
Christchurch wastewater treatment plant fire in November 2021. Photo / RNZ
People have been warned the stench could worsen over that time, as the rotting material is disturbed and exposed to the elements.
The council also hopes new aerators will improve the smell from the ponds.
But ratepayers in the city's east argue the council is taking far too long to find a solution and failing to protect their health and property values.
Fiona Thomas said the seven-month timeframe for removing the rot was ridiculous.
"If some of these councillors lived over the other side of town, I bet it would be sorted out by now," she said.
"They've literally sat on their hands and gone through the bureaucratic process, whereas if it was a civil emergency they would have done something about it right away."
Bromley business owners like Rodney Fletcher, who breeds and sells tropical fish, say the months-long wait is unacceptable.
"It should have been taken care of straight away before it started to ferment and make a smell, but they don't live over this side of town probably, they don't care," he said.
Janet Profit has lived next to the treatment plant for 35 years, but cannot go outside when the smell of burnt poo hangs in the still autumn air.
Janet Profit is calling for rates relief for affected residents. Photo / RNZ
She believes people in Bromley deserve rates relief until the problem is fixed.
"They're still not getting anywhere. Just do something. We just can't go on with this, it's ridiculous," she said.
Katinka Visser is also in favour of discounted rates for the worst-affected people and has come up with a novel quick-fix of her own.
"I'm going to go and live with one of the councillors, because I can't live here, I can't sleep here. I'll probably have to take my own mattress, but that's the only thing I can think of," she said.
Fed-up Bromley ratepayers plan to kick up a stink of their own at Thursday's meeting, when councillors will be briefed on the situation - and perhaps asked for a place to stay.
