The Whakatāne District Council has expressed “profound disappointment” at the Environment Court’s decision to decline a resource consent for the proposed site of a wastewater treatment plant at Matatā.

Mayor Tony Bonne says the Council is taking legal and technical advice and will decide on any future action within the next few weeks.

“The Court’s decision is based on a concern that objectionable odour could be experienced beyond the boundary of the proposed site, and that alternative sites had not been adequately assessed. That is at odds with both our technical advice and the findings of the independent commissioners who heard and granted the original resource consent application,” Mr Bonne says.

“We will be notifying all of the stakeholders, in particular the residents of Matatā, who were solid supporters of this initiative, to improve the town’s sanitation infrastructure and reduce its environmental footprint, and the Ministry of Health, which has gone to extreme lengths to make a substantial subsidy available for the project.”

He says the Council will not be commenting further until the detail of the decision has been analysed and expert advice has been considered.