Wellington Mayor Andrew Little reveals what was achieved during his meeting with Luxon. Video / Ryan Bridge TODAY
The Government has announced an independent review into Wellington Water’s Moa Point sewage plant failure.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said a Crown review team made up of senior figures from the water services sector will be appointed to both Wellington City Council and Wellington Water.
It comes as raw,untreated sewage continues to pour into the Cook Strait off Wellington’s South Coast after the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant flooded and became inoperable earlier this month.
“The failure of a key part of our capital city’s critical wastewater infrastructure and the ensuing impact on communities, the local economy and the environment are completely unacceptable,” Watts said in a statement this afternoon.
“After discussions with Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, we have agreed an independent and transparent investigation is required to determine the causes of this failure,” he said.
“The public is owed the assurance that we understand what led to this failure and that we are taking steps to prevent it from happening again.”
The review would seek to find out what led to the failure, and recommend steps to prevent it from happening again.
Watts said the investigatory team would comprise “independent senior water services sector figures with relevant technical engineering, governance, commercial and legal expertise”.
Simon Watts says the Moa Point plant failings are completely unacceptable. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It is not yet clear how long the review may take, or how much it will cost, although Watts said “we need timely findings and recommendations,” given the assets and operations will transfer to new water entity Tiaki Wai Ltd from July.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB, he said appointments to the panel would take place in March, with plans for initial reporting and recommendations in June.
“At the end of the day, we’re not going to compromise quality for speed, but we certainly want to get answers as fast as possible, and that’ll be the direction I’ll be giving the team,” he said.
Little has welcomed the Government’s move, saying an independent review is needed.
“It is essential Wellingtonians have a genuinely independent review about the failure of the Moa Pt sewerage plant,” the mayor said in a statement.
“My hope is that the minister can assemble the Crown review team, confirm the Terms of Reference, and get the review underway as quickly as possible,” he said.
The capital’s South Coast beaches are currently off limits, and are expected to remain so for months as the plant is fixed.
So far, the public have not been told what could have led to the failure, with officials tight-lipped on what is known.
Wellington Water chief executive Pat Dougherty revealed last week he held concerns the organisation had missed early warning signs there were troubles at the plant.
“Over the last three or four months, I think there’s been a couple of incidents that I suspect may have been early warning signs that we missed,” Dougherty said.
Following that interview, Dougherty would not be interviewed or provide a comment on what those warning signs may have been.
He will speak tonight at a public meeting hosted by local Wellington MPs Julie Anne Genter and Tamatha Paul at St Patrick’s College in Kilbirnie.
Ethan Manera is a Wellington-based journalist covering Wellington issues, local politics and business in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
