THE PRESS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1976. The northern treatment plant

Press, 11 December 1976, Page 12

THE PRESS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1976. The northern treatment plant

The Christchurch Drainage Board has been committed, more or less firmly, since 1969 to building a second major sewage treatment plant near Belfast. The need for the plant has not diminished in the seven years since it was first seriously considered. The plant is required to sene the Belfast residential area and nearby areas that will develop in the near future, to treat local industrial wastes and to allow' some sewage to be diverted from the plant at Bromley. The Regional Planning Authority’s new indicative plan assumes that a new sewage treatment plant will have to be built near Belfast, no matter where long-term urban growth near Christchurch occurs.

The new plant was once intended to be in operation “ as soon as possible after 1978 ”. Soon after 1978 may now be an impossible goal, but this does not matter because extensions at Bromley have expanded the capacity of the plant there. Further extensions of the Bromley plant are now difficult, if not impossible. Auckland’s experience is a salutary lesson for Christchurch of what can happen if the planning and construction of sewage treatment and disposal plants fall far behind the demand for such services.

It is clearly imperative that the board press forward vigorously with its plans to build the plant at Chaneys. The preliminaries to building such a plant are numerous and time-consuming. Some of the technical details — what sort of plant is best suited to the area

and where the treated effluent can best be discharged — can be hastened by the board itself if the need for haste arises. The political and social implications of the scheme, however, could involve the board in frustrating delays beyond its control.

The support of the Christchurch City Council must be secured because the land on which the plant will probably be built belongs to the council. More importantly, the approval of the Waimairi County Council must be secured because that council must, as the planning authority in the area, designate the land for use as a public utility. If public objections to the board’s choice of a particular site for the plant are supported by the Waimairi County Council and upheld by the Town and Country Planning Appeal Board, the delays in getting the project under way could become critical. Detailed technical planning for the plant cannot proceed until the exact site has been selected and approved under the regular planning procedures.

In both the siting of the plant and the technical planning, the board will also have to satisfy those who are concerned about how the plant will affect the immediate environment, as the Bromley works have affected Aranui for example. The board must also expect to be under pressure from those w'ho want to see the treated effluent used for nutrient irrigation and cannot fairly dismiss their arguments without thoroughly investigating this alternative for the final disposal of the plant’s effluent.