Independent commissioners were hearing submissions to the Northern Regional Council in June. They will decide if WDC’s new consent should be granted and which of the Regional Council’s conditions should be imposed. A decision is likely in the next few weeks.

The Regional Council (which deals with environmental protection and regulation) is prepared to allow a little more leeway when storms overtax the city’s sewage collection system and cause overflows into the harbour, but it wants the District Council to present options to reduce the level of inflows and the treatment of overflows so sewage no longer presents a health risk.

Currently the District Council has consent to discharge 90,000 cubic metres of sewage from its Okara pumping station during a heavy storm. The council has built a new pipeline and installed new pumps to take that would-be storm-water/sewage excess from Okara to the Kioreroa treatment works and has now applied to discharge up to 140,000 cubic metres of partially treated sewage from there into Limeburners Creek during a storm event.

The Regional Council has said yes – up to 120,000 cubic metres, but it wants to impose several conditions, which I believe are fair enough.

One of those conditions is that the District Council further upgrades its sewerage system to reduce the level of wet weather inflows (which directly cause the eventual overflows) - it’s a measure I’ve been promoting and arguing for ever since joining the council.

While the Okara junction has been the main source of overflows there are more than 100 other ‘minor’ overflow sites around the city and only by improving the sewerage system will they be fixed.

Currently the storm overflows at the treatment works will be filtered (not treated) and the NRC wants a list of further treatment options ready by the time the conditions are reviewed next year.

If all of that is done we might, in the foreseeable future, be well on the way to having a far healthier harbour.

On the positive side there were technological advancements and solutions put forward at the hearings that suggested any problems with overflows and pollution can be solved if there’s a will.

It’s obvious to me the residents of Whangarei clearly have that will – WDC needs to act on that.