Media Release 24 May 2006
Chch City Council gains agreement on ocean outfall conditions
Christchurch City Council is pleased the appeals regarding some minor conditions to the Ocean Outfall resource consent
have now been fully resolved, and that the Council can now proceed with the construction, operation and maintenance of
the outfall with confidence that all conditions can be met.
Since the 3km outfall’s resource consents were granted in November 2005, the City Council has been negotiating with
other interested parties about some changes it believes were needed to ensure the system can operate within the
conditions set. Resource management law encourages parties to try to reach such agreements, which are then reviewed and
approved by the court.
" After years and years of debate, after public consultation, after the Council changing its proposal to accommodate
what the Courts and the local people wanted, we have now got approval. Says Mayor Garry Moore
The project is on schedule to meet the October 2003 Environment Court decision that the city’s treated wastewater
discharge must be removed from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary by September 2009.
Jane Parfitt, the Council’s city environment general manager, says the Council is committed to ensuring the scheme is
well-built and operated and producing water which is as clean as possible. The changes being sought were small
alterations to ensure that was the case.
“This has been a good process and I’d like to thank the other parties for their willingness to work with us and reach
mutually acceptable solutions,” says Mrs Parfitt. “The original decision is a very detailed document – 381 pages – and
it’s probably no surprise that there would be a few small elements of it which could be improved on in practice.”
The City Council expects to award construction contracts, for the pipeline and a pump station, in August. Five companies
were asked to tender for the pipeline following a registration of interest and selection process. Tenders must be in by
31 May. Construction could begin around the end of the year depending on the programme submitted by the successful
tenderer. The construction method will depend on the outcome of tender evaluations.
Background: In 2001, the City Council applied for a 15-year extension to rights to continue discharging treated
wastewater into the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. That application was based on upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Following appeals, however, Environment Canterbury said the estuary discharge could only continue until 2009. The
Council needed to find an alternative and, in October 2002, it began preparing an Assessment of Environmental Effects
for an Ocean Outfall through a pipeline of no less than 2km.
ENDS