The Whakatāne District Council has welcomed the granting of resource consents for the construction and operation of a wastewater reticulation scheme to serve the Matatā community.

Resource Consent and Notices of Requirement applications for the scheme were heard by independent commissioners Rob van Voorthuysen and Gina Mohi on 11 and 12 June, and the commissioners’ findings were released to the applicant and submitters today. All of the applications have been granted, subject to a number of conditions.

Mayor Tony Bonne says the wastewater scheme addresses environmental and health concerns arising from Matatā’s current reliance on septic tanks and soakage fields to dispose of wastewater.

“This scheme represents a huge opportunity to both future-proof the community’s wastewater disposal and cater for a potential increase in population over the next 30-plus years,” he says. “The availability of a $6.7 million Ministry of Health subsidy is crucial to the scheme’s affordability, and the Council is very appreciative of Associate Minister Jo Goodhew’s and the Ministry’s previous support in extending the subsidy availability timeframe.

“It’s heartening that the commissioners have praised the ‘extremely high level of comprehensiveness and quality’ of the application documents and the applicant’s submissions and evidence,” Mr Bonne adds. “Their findings that the potential adverse impacts of the scheme will either be ‘less than minor’ or can be adequately addressed by the consent conditions are also welcome, and it is to be hoped that the submitters will consider those matters carefully before imposing the additional cost of an Environment Court appeal on the District’s ratepayers.”