West Coast monitoring staff busy
From Local Democracy Reporter Brendon McMahon:
West Coast Regional Council monitoring staff have been busy in the past month, with 79 site visits.
Compliance staff received 16 complaints, issued one formal warning and one abatement notice.
The formal warning was to an Arahura Valley goldminer for an unconsented water take, and a Kapitia Creek miner received an abatement notice.
Of the 79 site visits, 16 were due to complaints, eight for resource consent monitoring, eight mining compliance and bond release checks, and 47 dairy farm checks.
The Kapitia mine site abatement followed several complaints from one complainant that sediment laden water was being discharged into the stream.
"The mining treatment ponds had a leak in the pond wall. The discharge flowed down a bush creek into Kapitia Creek... The investigation is still ongoing," staff said.
At nearby Stafford, a goldminer and an outside complainant both notified of sediment laden water escaping into Waimea Creek.
"The miner had shut the operation down to cease any further discharges."
When the council visited the creek had cleared upstream, but deeper pools downstream were "discoloured with sedimentation".
No decision had yet been taken on enforcement action.
At Fox Creek, a miner received a formal warning for taking water without consent after staff visited the Arahura Valley site following a complaint about sediment discharges.
Staff found the miner carrying out "exploration testing" but the creek was not discoloured.
The miner is now applying for a water take consent.
Council staff found visible sediment in Boatmans Creek in Inangahua following a complaint the stream was "significantly discoloured".
An adjacent farm property, impacted by the February floods, was found to be the culprit after the landowner moved gravel in the creek bed, breaking permitted activity rules allowing bank reinstatement and removal of flood debris. An "educative approach" was used and the landowner was seeking a resource consent.
At Ruatapu, a complaint about harvested logs from a forestry block being dragged through a creek was "a minor non-compliance".
The forester had neglected to notify the council as required but there were no issues with the operation method, staff said.
Other complaints/incidents not yet found to be either compliant or non-compliant included:
* Multiple complaints about a burn-off at Blue Spur discharging smoke and ash on to neighbouring properties.
* Multiple other complaints about discharge from the Kapitia goldmine.
* Large amounts of baleage wrap "caught high in the trees" along the Little Totara River north of Charleston and washed down the river during the February flood was traced to the owner who was organising a clean-up.
* Flooding at Inangahua allegedly caused by land development on a farm was related to severe weather events but the nearby land development might be exacerbating the situation;
* A complaint about the discharge of dust from a gravel quarry in the Grey River bed at Omoto. The gravel access road to the site was the likely cause but as the road was public it did not breach regional rules or resource consent conditions.
The gravel operator had been advised to consider the neighbouring properties and use a water cart.
Poll: Do you think banning gang patches is reasonable?
With the government cracking down on gangs, it is now illegal for gang members to display their insignia in public places whether through clothing or their property.
This means arrests can be made if these patches are worn in places like restaurants, shops, on public transport or ferries, and on airplanes. Arrests were made recently at a funeral.
Do you think this ban is reasonable?
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76.3% Yes
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22.3% No
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1.3% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?
Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.
West Coast council accepts Franz Josef loan offer
By local democracy reporter Lois Williams:
The West Coast Regional Council has voted to take up the government’s offer to co-fund a second round of flood protection at Franz Josef.
The decision follows a fractious meeting in the tourist town on Wednesday night, with local ratepayers agonising over how to pay for the work, and insisting they authorise what the council builds and spends.
Scientists and engineers have warned the community is at high to critical risk from the wild Waiho (Waiau) River unless urgent work is done to top up and rebuild damaged stopbanks, as a stop gap measure.
At a brief extraordinary Council meeting in Greymouth on Friday, chairperson Peter Haddock moved the council accept the offer of funding, up to a value of $7.9 million.
The government’s original offer was for $10m, as a 60/40 split: a grant of $6m and a loan of $4m to Waiho ratepayers.
But that included the cost of strengthening the massive flood banks built to protect State Highway 6, and the council excluded that component after Franz Josef objected to funding a Crown asset.
The council vote to accept the funding was all but unanimous: rebel councillor Allan Birchfield was the sole dissenting voice, saying he had no confidence in the council to honestly and fairly administer the money, and the council was not trusted by the community.
“And I don’t have the confidence in you, Peter - so I’m voting against it.”
Haddock said the criticism was unfair.
He said he had been to five meetings with Franz Josef ratepayers to try to rebuild trust and apologise to them for the way they were treated by the council previously, when Birchfield was the chairperson.
“The previous council had no meetings with them for over five years, very poor financial paperwork … I’ve been through the minutes and I see you don’t appear in most of them, the previous money was lost back to the government and I’m afraid that lies with you Allan [Birchfield].”
Councillor Brett Cummings, who was a member of the Waiho ratepayers joint committee, reminded Birchfield that only two people at the Franz Josef meeting had opposed accepting the funding and loan.
“I feel quite confident, Allan, that the community group down there has quite a lot of control on how and where the money’s being spent - their money.”
Councillor Peter Ewen said he wanted to acknowledge the Franz Josef community, and the angst it had gone through over the decision.
“I agree with them over not taking the $10 million ... [but] this is ensuring the Insurance Council does not walk away from the situation. We are helping ourselves, and I’m sure the council with its best endeavours and professional river staff will adhere to the wishes of the community down there.”
If nature played its part, the Franz Josef community would now gain the time to come up with a final plan for its future, which was the purpose of the funding, Ewen said.
Birchfield asked engineer Scott Hoare why it was planning to tear down and rebuild the Milton stopbank on the sourh side, saying he had been there when it was built and it was well “found”.
Hoare said the bank would not be torn down, but was slumping in places and the rocks would be taken out and restacked.
Councillor Frank Dooley said he had every confidence in Haddock as council chairperson.
“I really appreciate the work you’ve done to bring this organisation to the position it’s now in ... the West Coast community can only benefit through your leadership.”
The regional council had until Monday to tell the government if it would accept the funding for Franz Josef and that would now happen, Haddock said after the meeting.
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