Whaanga Coast urge Waikato Regional Council to do its job on water quality

A water quality test of a Whale Bay stream  has resulted in Whaanga Coast residents demanding that the Waikato Regional Council do its job better on ensuring water quality. The test found that the stream was polluted.  Residents are asking the WRC to find out the source fo the pollution and to bring in under control. They says that is especially important given that the Waikato Distrcit Council’s proposed ‘low pressure’ scheme may not solve the problem.

Emails from Whaanga Coast residents follow below.

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From: Sandra Ellmers
Sent: Tuesday, 22 May 2012 5:33 p.m.

Hello

After years of concern and protests from the local residents on the Whaanga Coast regarding the water degradation on the Whaanga Coast WDC have finally proposed a sewage reticulation system.

The proposed system has met wide opposition as many of the locals feel the proposed system is not adequate to address the ‘wider’ problem is designed to “meet the budget” and will only provide a short-term solution.

Those of you who were at the last Whaanga Coast Sewage meeting at the bible Camp will remember a long time Whale Bay resident, Denis Conquest telling the meeting that the stream that flows from the Karioi Lodge past his house and down into Whale bay stinks and is badly polluted.

Tim Duff, another Whale Bay resident defended the Karioi treatment system and discounted the comments received from Denis Conquest and others that there were ongoing problems with sewage escaping into the waterways from the large tourism operations and public reserves which they felt was the major cause of the of the pollution.

It seems blatantly obvious to many of the Whaanga Coast residents that these large tourist operations are not adequately able to treat their waste on-site.

The attached test was done by Hill Laboratories in Hamilton and is the result of samples taken from Whale Bay waterways on 26^th April 2012 and appears to prove the point that there is indeed serious pollution here and that the grounds for concern are real and the problem needs urgent attention.

The email below was forwarded by Denis Conquest who requested that the recipients pass it on to any interested parties.

WDC do not appear to monitor the on-site systems on these larger properties regularly to see if they are operating in accordance with their resource consents.

Apparently the Karioi Lodge is still operating under the original consent held by the Huntly Trust but the current operation is completely different and the use has substantially changed from what it was decades ago under the existing consent.

Karioi Lodge is a 24/7 operation which seems to be well patronised all year with a very high occupancy rate so there are substantial demands placed on their ground sewage treatment system all year round.

During high usage and especially during wet weather the soil cannot absorb the large volumes of discharge from these high usage properties so it overflows and makes its way through the ground soils in to the streams and ocean …..substantially untreated.

This is just the result of ONE test but if tests were taken regularly from the streams and ocean in the vicinity of Manu Bay, Whale Bay and Ngaranui Beach they would more than likely reflect dangerous coliform levels.

My opinion is that before WDC proceed with the installation of any new reticulation for the Whaanga Coast that tests are frequently carried out on Karioi Lodge, Solscape, the Bible Camp, Manu Bay Reserve and the Ngaranui Beach on-site systems to monitor their effectiveness.

If the findings confirm that their on-site treatment systems are not up to standard then any new reticulation system for the Whaanga Coast must include these larger properties before more damage is done to our waterways and ocean and they are deemed ‘unsafe’ for swimming.

The Bible Camp asked WDC if they could join the proposed scheme but as it is only designed to cater for the residential lots this was not possible so even if the large operators wanted to join they could not…even if they know their present systems are not adequately coping.

A gravity sewage system would be more expensive but if it enables this area to be ‘cleaned up’ it would be worth it.

If all the ‘larger users’ were included in the scheme then funding would be substantially increased.

It seems obvious that a sensible, long-term solution must be found as the ‘cheaper’ option proposed may end up being a very expensive option if it does not take care of the ‘wider’ pollution problem.

If you feel that WDC should be taking a more proactive approach to the pollution by revisiting their decision to install the proposed low volume system, then as interested parties and residents we need to ensure that council, council officers and our local representatives are aware of our opinions and concerns.

My opinion is that wider consultation should take place before we go down the present path as if the proposed system is installed it will be too late as there will not be any other options available if the pollution continues.

Regards

Sandra Ellmers

Whale Bay Resident

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Hello to all: