Cape Palliser Road support funding urgent

By Councillor Aidan Ellims

It’s hard to believe that it has been one year since the local body elections, where that time has gone, as well as what has happened in the council space in that year. I can truly say that I did not realise how much time council work would take.

Cape Palliser Road update: Waka Kotahi has proposed removing the Cape road’s Special Purpose funding. 

In June our Interim CEO Paul Gardner wrote to the Waka Kotahi Board advocating that they continue to fund the road at the current 100% level as SWDC would struggle to maintain and keep it open if that funding was removed. This letter pointed out the wellbeing of our coastal communities along the Cape Palliser Road, as well as the business and tourism benefits that are provided along our southern coast.

The Waka Kotahi Board were scheduled to make their decision at the end of August on all Special Purpose funded roads across NZ, however this decision was deferred until their September meeting because out of ten Councils which receive Special Purpose funding, only SWDC and one other objected and asked for the funding to continue.

As chair of the Infrastructure and Community Services Committee I wrote earlier this month to the Waka Kotahi Board, supporting the earlier letter from our Interim CEO, as well as the letters which the Ngawi Residents and Ratepayers Association and MP Kieran McAnulty had sent, all requesting that Waka Kotahi continue to fund the Cape Palliser Road.

I asked that Waka Kotahi continue the funding at its current level while it works with SWDC to help identify and fund a more resilient route using the EcoReef trial or other options which would be sustainable well into the future.

The Waka Kotahi Board met on 28 September, so I imagine by the time the Martinborough Star is in your letterboxes, we will know what has been decided. I have my fingers crossed for a good result.

Views for Rating Review: Council is currently carrying out a Rating Review which will determine how Council will set and collect rates for the coming years.

Some of the topics up for consultation: should properties be rated on Land Value (as currently occurs) or on Capital Value; should the Rural Roading Reserve be replaced by an Infrastructure Emergency Resilience fund which all ratepayers contribute to, rather than just rural ratepayers contributing to the Rural Roading Reserve. 

There is more information available on the Council website, with Frequently Asked Questions and examples of the rates for properties using Land Value, as opposed to Capital Value. https://swdc.govt.nz/rating-policies-review/

All residents and ratepayers can make submissions on the Rating Review until October 15 and I encourage as many folks as possible to provide feedback to Council on these topics.

All submissions will be considered and decisions regarding how rates will be set in the futurewill be enacted on the 1 July 2024.

Sewerage: On 20 September, Infrastructure and Community Services Committee were provided with a joint SWDC and Wellington Water CEO’s report into how we had got to the stage that Council stopped new sewage connections to the Martinborough Waste Water Treatment Plant. This report is included in the ICSC agenda and available on the SWDC website.

The report provided a timeline of events from 1975 when the plant was commissioned for a population of 1500 in Martinborough, compared to June 2022’s population of over 2000 and we all know that number is exceeded a number times each year with visitors attending events in town.

We are also aware that from 2014 – 2017 when the Resource Consent application and approval process for the Waste Water Treatment Plant occurred, a growth study to understand what Martinborough’s population would look like in 2020, 2025 or 2035 did not occur.

In August 2019, SWDC received advice that its Waste Treatment ponds needed to be desludged. We have learnt that sewage ponds are supposed to be desludged every 7 years, however, the Martinborough ponds had never been desludged since they were commissioned in 1975. 

In October 2019, SWDC became a shareholder in Wellington Water, which took over operations of the SWDC waste water, drinking water and storm water infrastructure. In late 2020 and early 2021 there were reports from Wellington Water to SWDC raising issues about the capacity of the ponds and that there was no headroom for growth.

In September 2021 Wellington Water recommended that desludging occurs, while in December 2021, a report stated that $21m to $47m of investment needed to occur over 30 years, noting that population growth needs to be addressed to ensure compliance with the consent is established and maintained.

In August 2022, Greater Wellington Regional Council issued an abatement notice for the Martinborough Waste Water Treatment Plant. Enquiries from councillors, with responses from Wellington Water, did not mention that capacity at the Treatment Plant was an issue, yet in November 2022 when a developer planning a subdivision was told that there was no capacity to connect new properties to the Plant.

Later in November, the new Mayor and all Councillors received briefings on the Waste Water assets in SWDC and again there was no mention of capacity constraints or growth impacts. It was not until May 2023 that our community was told of the issues when we were all advised that connections to the Treatment Plant were paused.

So as you can see, there have been a number of issues over the years where desludging has not occurred, information has not been shared with elected members, or if it has been shared, unfortunately it has not been acted upon.

The report made a number of observations and recommendations which have either been implemented already or are in the process of being implemented. Some recommendations relate to intellectual knowledge being retained within SWDC and information from Wellington Water is clear and concise when delivered to councillors and staff.

Currently council and Wellington Water have created a plan to get the Treatment Plant compliant which has been approved by Greater Wellington Regional Council which includes desludging and upgrades to equipment at the Treatment Plant. The initial abatement notice has been removed and three ‘to do’ abatement notices have been issued by GWRC. 

This work is partially funded by from rates during the 2023/24 Annual Plan year and $500k from the Affordable Waters better off funding, while further funds will have to be allocated in the 2024 Long Term Plan.

If anyone would like to read this report, it is available on the SWDC website or I can email it through to you.

If you wish to contact me to discuss any issues, please email me on aidan.ellims@swdc.govt.nz