3.1 Meeting held 3 October 2000

5.1 Ngatea STP Consent Renewal

5.2 Waihi Sewerage Jetflote Trial

5.3 Waihi Water Consent Renewal

5.4 Paeroa Sewerage Wet Weather Overflows

5.5 Whiritoa Sewerage Treatment

5.6 Waitakaruru Sewage Discharge Consent

5.7 Waihi Bore Water Investigation

5.8 Presentation to Environment Waikato

5.9 Water Take Resource Consents

5.10 Presentation by Malcolm McLead, Landcare Reseatch

5.11 Confirmation of next meeting

Pursuant to Section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, the Chairman is to call for late items to be accepted.

In the event of a late item, an explanation must be given as to why the item was not on the agenda and why discussion cannot be delayed for a subsequent meeting.

3.1 MEETING HELD 3 OCTOBER 2000 1-4

THAT the minutes of the meeting of the Water and Wastewater Consultative Committee held on Tuesday 4 July 2000 be taken as read and confirmed.

5.1 NGATEA STP CONSENT RENEWAL (42.002.017)

Fish and Game NZ were provide with information about the impact of the proposed discharge. As a result they have advised the no longer have any objections to this consent. There are now no formal objections to this consent proposal.

As part of the original land use conditions for the treatment plant. There was a condition requiring "The ponds and environs be landscaped and planted to a satisfactory level." Todate has been no planting undertaken. Currently the rear boundary is being surveyed to determine its correct location and so the boundary fence can be positioned in the position. As part of the upgrade works it is proposed to plant along the road and rear boundaries in a hedge like manner to provide a visual barrier. The height of the planting will be kept to just above eye height to allow wind aeration of the pond.

That screen planting along the road and rear boundaries is included as part of the upgrade work.

The draft resource consent conditions have recently been received from Environment Waikato and are currently being reviewed.

5.2 WAIHI SEWERAGE JETFLOTE TRIAL (42.601.017)

As part of the renewal process for the Waihi sewage treatment plant discharge consents, it is important to have a clear understanding of the current state of the Ohinemuri River. The existing condition of the river will be used to determine the likely effects of the future discharges. The better the quality of data available, the easier it is to support proposed discharge standards. There has been some testing undertaken between 1991 and 1994, however more comprehensive and more recent data is considered necessary.

Testing of the Ohinemuri River will be undertaken upstream of the treatment plant has recently started and will continue every two weeks until the end of February. The tests will be undertaken at different times in the day and regardless of river conditions. The tests include, pH, suspended solids, ammonia, dissolved reactive phosphorous, total phosphorous, total nitrogen and E Coli.

5.3 WAIHI WATER CONSENT RENEWAL (43.603.017)

As this years riparian planting programme, a 400 metre section of the Walmsley Stream next to the DoC estate has had riparian enhancement and plants planted at strategic locations.

5.4 PAEROA SEWAGE WET WEATHER OVERFLOWS (42.301.020)

Nothing further to report.

5.5 WHIRITOA SEWAGE TREATMENT (42.602.017)

Nothing further to report.

5.6 WAITAKARURU SEWAGE DISCHARGE CONSENT (42.004.017)

Bruce Wallace Partners have been engaged to prepare a Issues and Options report on the possible options to renew this discharge consent. This report should be available for consideration by the Committee at the December meeting.

5.7 WAIHI BORE WATER INVESTIGATION (43.603.003)

Five consultants were invited to tender for this project of which 4 tenders were received. Groundwater and Environmental Services were selected as the successful tenders with a fee of $5,685 ex GST to complete the next stage of this project. Their report should be completed before Christmas.

5.8 PRESENTATION TO ENVIRONMENT WAIKATO (43.000.017)

On the 10 October, His Worship the Mayor and three Councillors made a presentation to Environment Waikato’s Regulatory Committee. The presentation was on Councils water and wastewater renewal strategy. The presentation was well received and after the presentation there was general agreement that with both Councils working closely together, many of the issues could be easily resolved.

5.9 WATER TAKE RESOURCE CONSENTS (43.000.017_

Seventeen resource consents relating to the 14 Hauraki District Councils water take are due to expire around 1 October 2001.

Council has recognized the expiry of these consents is likely to have a significant impact on the water supply schemes and has developed a long-term strategy to reduce the impacts.

The most probable options to gain long term resource consents have been detailed in the Hauraki District Council Water Supply Strategic Plan. These options have been evaluated in terms of cost, risk, environmental impact, cultural effects and water quality. From this evaluation, the most appropriate options were determined. Funding to implement the most appropriate options has been included in "Councils Long Term Financial Strategy".

Preparing the resource consent applications and supporting documentation is a significant undertaking and will require the engagement of a specialist consultant. Currently several consultancies are being invited to tender for this work.

The degree of consultation necessary with effected parties will become more apparent as the project evolves. A presentation on the draft resource consent and consultation programme will be made to the February meeting of this Committee. Following this the Issues and Options reports will be completed for presentation to the March meeting. Initially it is proposed to consult with the following groups;

Ngati Hako

Ngati Tamatera

Ngati Tara Tokanui

Department of Conservation

Fish and Game NZ

It is normal for ecological surveys of the streams to be undertaken as part of the supporting documentation for water takes. A key part of the water Supply Strategy is that for many of the existing water takes short-term (5 to 10 year) consents will be sought. The reason for this is it is not proposed to retain the existing takes in the long term but to abandon them.

As most of these water takes have existed unchanged for many decades, it is considered the ecological surveys would not provide any meaningful data given that the takes will only be continued for a short time until the long term solution has been implemented. Short term reduction in stream take quantities are not possible and riparian planting would not grow enough in the short term to have any benefit. On this basis it is proposed to submit some applications without undertaking a ecological survey.

5.10 PRESENTATION BY MALCOLM MCLEOD 11.00 AM (42.301.017)

When the Irwin Rd site was first purchased for the Paeroa sewage treatment plant, Landcare Research collected several large cores of the soil from the site to test it for suitability for disposal of treated effluent. These cores were combined with other cores from throughout the region and used to measure the effectiveness of the different soil types to treat effluent. These tests have been ongoing for several years and have produced some interesting results. The presentation by Malcolm McLeod is to present Council with the results of this research. Council has not been involved in the funding of this research.

5.11 CONFIRMATION OF NEXT MEETING - Tuesday 5 December 2000 at 10.00 am