Meeting wrap: Infrastructure and Environment Committee

Council has, after 23 years, received a Comprehensive Stormwater Resource Consent, subject to final conditions confirmation. Some minor adjustments were being worked through, but it was expected to be in effect by February 17. The resource consent provides the 35 years’ framework from which to manage the current stormwater management systems and improvement programme, respond to future needs and to meet national environmental standards, Mr Michael said.

Mr Michael highlighted a recent decision to dismiss a charge filed against the council by WorkSafe NZ following an incident in July 2022 in which a tourist fell into a geothermal activity caused sinkhole.

Council had maintained such geothermal incidents could not be precisely predicted or prevented. The charge was dismissed by Judge Hollister-Jones in the Rotorua District Court last week.

If the prosecution had been successful, it would have imposed significant compliance standards and costs on the council to manage geothermal risks. About 25 per cent of the city’s urban footprint is situated on top of a geothermally active area, he said.

A significant and unexpected power cut across the city on January 31 caused no significant issues for the city’s infrastructure services.

Rotorua has about 90 pump stations, two treatment stations and 2000 grinder pumps that rely on a continuous supply of energy and although the interruption lasted for an hour nothing went wrong.

Mr Michael said contingency and service continuity plans worked seamlessly and there were no breaches of resource consents, discharges of wastewater or disruptions to water supply or wastewater treatment. This was a welcome confirmation that the district’s infrastructure services are well protected from unexpected events and the services reliability is at a reasonable level.

Planning is underway to recommence and complete works on Stage 1 of the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme soon.

The disruption to the project from January 2024 to current date as a result of protests near lake Rotokakahi, had imposed significant additional costs on the project. Council was working closely with its partners to minimise the costs to the local and wider community and to move forward with the project.

Mr Michael noted there had been some discussions about the position of litter bins in public spaces.

Council had initiated a trial of removing litter bins from some public areas as part of its waste minimisation and cost control strategy. The aim of the trial was to encourage people to take responsibility for taking their rubbish home with them where Council has provided ample waste containers capacity.

He said he was fully aware that some members of the community wanted to see more litter bins in public spaces but the trial to date had indicated that, while there were some minor side effects, only 1 per cent of the previously collected waste was now present at those locations. This is a very welcome response from the community.

Council will take an adaptive approach to the issue and monitor its application, he said.

The Minister of the Environment has signed a deed variation for the reallocation of funds for the East Rotoiti/Rotoma Sewerage Scheme. Rotorua Lakes Council expected the $10 million in funding to be deposited in the next few days.