Following a public consultation process and amendments to address submissions, the Whakatāne District Council’s proposed Combined Waters Bylaw has been adopted by the Council.

The amended proposed bylaw was received by the Council’s Policy Committee yesterday, together with details of the submission points raised by submitters. All of the submissions lodged – by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa, the Bay of Plenty District Heath Board, Joint Oil Companies (Mobil NZ Ltd, Z Energy Ltd, BP Oil NZ Ltd) and KP Autocraft Limited – were largely supportive of the approach and intent of the draft bylaw. The points raised were addressed by a number of wording amendments to clarify bylaw definitions and clauses relating to water supply, wastewater and trade waste discharge objectives, as well as clauses relating to the protection of drainage works and wastewater drains.

New Clauses were added to cover:

• Restrictions on water use
• The ability to waive the requirement for a Trade Waste Discharge Consent where the cost or inconvenience would be disproportionate to the nature of the discharge involved
• Minimum quality standards for stormwater

An additional section was also added to make it clear which sections relate to all parts of the bylaw rather than just the stormwater section.

Other actions proposed to address issues raised through submissions include:

• The provision and distribution of a pamphlet to highlight ways householders can reduce their water use
• Internal procedures to ensure that the Regional Council, iwi and hapū are notified of any trade waste accidents and spills

Policy Committee Chairperson, Councillor Judy Turner, says that under the provisions of the Local Government Act 2002, all of the Council’s bylaws must be reviewed and updated by 30 June 2018.

“The Combined Waters Bylaw replaces three existing parts of the Consolidated Bylaw and introduces a new stormwater section, which will give Council greater control over the quality of the stormwater flowing into our urban waterways,” she says. “Our other bylaws will be progressively reviewed, simplified and updated, and then provided to the community for feedback. The response to this first part of the process has been heartening, and we look forward to having a comprehensive suite of bylaws in place which will be easier to understand, implement and enforce.”

The proposed bylaw was adopted at an Extraordinary Council meeting following the Policy Committee Meeting and will take effect on 1 December.