Ōpōtiki District Council has lodged an application with Bay of Plenty Regional Council for a new resource consent for the Ōpōtiki Wastewater Treatment Plant located at Snells Road.

The council’s current consent for discharge activities expires on July 31, 2025.

During the development and evaluation phase of the council’s application, proposed changes to the wastewater standards from Taumata Arowai (the Water Services Authority) were announced. The new standards are not due to be finalised until August 2025.

Council service delivery group manager Nathan Hughes said in response to this changing legislative landscape, the council had lodged its resource consent application with the regional council and requested it be placed on hold, in line with s.91A of the Resource Management Act.

“By doing this the Wastewater Treatment Plant can continue to operate and meet current compliance and legislative standards, while a decision is yet to be made on the new resource consent application, in-line with what the new standards may be,” Mr Hughes said.

The council’s application proposal outlines proposed staged upgrades to the existing facilities, addressing immediate operational challenges while planning for future community needs, including infrastructure upgrades to enhance treatment efficiency and optimise land disposal.

“In the 1990’s the Wastewater Treatment Plant location was selected for several reasons including its proximity to existing infrastructure, favourable soil characteristics, it is a low human activity area, downstream from the current network and overland flow during floods would not bring wastewater into the township.

“However, the infrastructure is under pressure with high amounts of water getting into the network during wet weather, algae and solids impacting drainage performance of the disposal field and a need to accommodate additional growth, like Hukutaia,” Mr Hughes said.

The council is developing a programme of work and plans to make improvements within the next couple of years to address the challenges Ōpōtiki faces now, while also planning how the infrastructure will serve the community 50 years on.

“The council also recognises the importance of hapū/iwi and community consultation, and once legislative requirements are clear, will resume the engagement phase of our application process,” Mr Hughes said.

The date at which engagement will resume is currently unknown and all updates on this consent application and wastewater project will be added to the Wastewater Treatment Plant project page on Council’s engagement website Connect | Hono Mai. For more information head to www.connect.odc.govt.nz.