Bay of Plenty councillor walks out of meeting after exchange over Mount industry

Bay of Plenty regional councillor David Love, right, walked out of a meeting after an exchange with councillor Matemoana McDonald. Photos / File

A Bay of Plenty councillor walked out of a meeting after being told his actions had "enraged" another councillor in an exchange about the future of Mount Maunganui's industrial area.

Tensions boiled over at the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Monitoring and Operations Committee meeting yesterday during a discussion about the Mount Maunganui airshed - an covering the industrial zone with tighter rules for discharges.

Councillor David Love said he was approached at a function by business leaders concerned another councillor had allegedly suggested it was the regional council's intention to remove all industry from the area.

"I hope our intention is removing those in the industry that are unable or do not want to put in proper controls to protect the population," Love said.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council elected member David Love walked out of a meeting after a heated exchange with other councillors. Photo / File

Love said he sought assurance removing all industry was not the intention because the industry in the area was vital to Tauranga, the Port of Tauranga and New Zealand.

Councillor Matemoana McDonald said the Love was "out of order".

McDonald said: "No doubt they are referring to me and that is absolute rubbish."

She said Love had picked up on part of a private discussion and got it wrong and out of context.

Councillor Paula Thompson spoke next.

"I'm enraged that such a comment has been allowed to be made in this meeting without first checking with the two [elected] members who were there."

Love sought permission to speak again but committee chairman Kevin Winters said "no".

Bay of Plenty regional councillor Matemoana McDonald called the actions of fellow councillor David Love "out of order". Photo / File

Love said he rejected the comments by councillors McDonald and Thompson and refused to take part in the rest of the meeting. The room was silent as he walked out.

After Love's departure, councillor Lyall Thurston made a motion to strike the offending comments from the meeting's minutes, which was seconded by councillor Te Taru White and carried.

The council was receiving an update on the airshed when the exchange erupted.

A staff report revealed consultants had been hired to undertake a study into what a managed retreat of polluting industry from the Mount Maunganui industrial area might look like.

The report also showed there had been five breaches of the National Environmental Standards of Air Quality inside the airshed boundaries between December and mid-February.

The breaches were recorded at the Whareroa Marae and Rail Yard South monitoring sites. An abatement notice was issued to an airport contractor after three consecutive breaches at Tauranga Airport.

Council senior regulatory compliance officer David Ede also told the council an existing fumigation area for methyl bromide at the Port of Tauranga had to be disestablished after becoming "problematic".

Ede told the council the fumigation area, which had been located near the north end of the Mount Maunganui side of the port, was too close to the boundary. It was moved further south and was now more "spread out" and away from public and port workers.

Councillor Stacey Rose asked if there was a higher risk of methyl bromide contaminating the air as a result of the relocation.

Ede said: "In my opinion, no.

"The whole area was disestablished because of its proximity to the boundary. By moving it out to this side it's more separate to the public and the prevailing westerly wind blowing that way.

"It's probably an advantage."

Part of the Port of Tauranga comes under the Mount Maunganui industrial airshed, where a fumigation area had become "problematic". Photo / File

Representatives from agri-nutrients company Ballance also addressed the meeting with an update on their efforts to reduce dust and other emissions from their site on Tasman Quay.

Ballance environmental manager Dominic Adams said the company had reduced emissions in the past year after spending half a million dollars on technology.

It had also requested a lower emissions limit in its consent and had installed multiple monitoring systems that alerted staff when needed. It had also stopped work at times.

Ballance general manager of operations and supply, Shane Dufaur, said the company understood its issues and was facing them head-on.

"We believe we are a vital part of the community, providing jobs. We believe that what we are doing in terms of further enabling the economy is critical to the community but we realise we need to take on their views.

"We want to prove to the rest of the community that you can do something about this. We are being open and honest. We own this. We are making big inroads to improvement. I think that's really important for the rest of the community."

- An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed comments made by Councillor Paula Thompson to Councillor Jane Nees. We regret the error.