Councillors divided over costs attached to cultural preference
“I can guarantee there will be a hell of a lot of ratepayers out there that won’t be happy about this, going down a cultural line.”
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Invercargill City Councillor Alex Crackett believes a divisive argument may be sparked by questioning iwi’s cultural reasonings for its Bluff wastewater preference.
The current Bluff wastewater discharge consent expires in December, 2025 and the council is preparing for a new consent application.
Bluff’s wastewater is currently discharged into Foveaux Strait by a 50-metre outflow pipe, after first being processed through a screening process, then an aerated lagoon, then clarification and UV disinfection.
A working group has recommended to council that the same treatment remain, but a new naturalistic wetland also be introduced.
That option - labelled 1F - has been backed by the Bluff Community Board. Local iwi has also supported it for cultural reasons.
However, the costs attached to that option, supported by iwi on cultural grounds, have created unease from a group of councillors.
The capital cost to option 1F has been estimated at $6.49m, the “whole of Life cost” at $15.5m and operating costs at $210,000. It is a significant rise from the council’s current operation, or from the 1G option also floated. That would include a “rock channel” but not the wetland.
Infrastructure committee chairperson Grant Dermody said: “I think it needs an explanation from Te Ao Marama or the Rūnaka because there is a significant difference in cost here, 50%.”
Dermody said there had been advice that 1G - a cheaper option - has met cultural criteria in other areas of the country by iwi.
“The gap of 50%, or $7m bucks, over the whole of life, needs explanation in my view.”
Cr Barry Stewart suggested the current Bluff wastewater system was efficient and questioned if the only reason they would now send the wastewater through land was for cultural reasons.
Infrastructure group manager Erin Moogan said the increase was being done to give the council the best chance of a consenting outcome.
A significant part of that was how they partnered with iwi, she said.
Stewart responded: “I can guarantee there will be a hell of a lot of ratepayers out there that won’t be happy about this, going down a cultural line.”
Mana whenua representative Pania Coote said Te Rūnaka o Awarua’s preferred option would be to discharge all wastewater to land - not the ocean, river, or lake.
But they recognised the cost associated would exceed the current budget allocation. So, they were willing to compromise and back the 1F option - as has the Bluff Community Board.
Deputy Mayor Tom Campbell suggested a motion asking that an explanation be brought to the next council meeting explaining the difference in cultural significance between options 1F and 1G.
“I don’t understand people who object to that. In any other walk of life with anything that was brought to this council, we would not simply accept it on the basis of someone saying; ‘I know it’s twice as expensive but that’s my preference’,” Campbell said.
Cr Crackett did object to Campbell’s motion, and quite strongly.
“I really don’t think this is the right motion on the table. I think this is going to cause a really divisive cultural argument.
“It’s going to blow up and create a Māori wards type scenario… I just see this being horrific and creating a giant cultural divide,” Crackett said.
Campbell’s motion calling for an explanation of the cultural situation was eventually voted in favour 7-6.
Mayor Nobby Clark, Trish Boyle, Allan Arnold, Peter Kett, Campbell, Stewart, and Dermody voted in favour.
Crackett, Coote, Ria Bond, Steve Broad, Darren Ludlow, and Lesley Soper voted against the motion put forward by Campbell.
The matter will now head to the full council meeting on October 29.
Going by the current trend of this council no matter what happens it’s going to be a massive blow out by the completion of it anyway 🙄.
On a side note of the meeting yesterday, there was the comment made by mayor Clark during the discussion on the Dunedin Hospital project controversy, stating the city council paid a certain local online page to post the FREE LINK for the petition on its page. I guess the council is okay with throwing money away since it’s not even on the main page but tucked away in amongst the comment section of one of their post.