11 October 2011

Commitment to River strong for Palmerston North City Council

When the Horizons Regional Council meets to discuss Palmerston North’s Waste Water Treatment Plant, there will be no representatives from the Palmerston North City Council present.

The Palmerston North City Council’s Chief Executive, Paddy Clifford, said the Council had planned to attend the meeting to provide information which might assist with Horizons’ decision on whether or not to serve the city with an abatement notice. That notice was served on the City Council late on Friday afternoon.

“We can’t afford to lose sight of what’s most important in all of this, what’s at the heart of the issue - and that’s the health of our river.”

“We have already sought advice on what studies are needed to understand what’s happening in the river and have made a proposal to Horizons for a co-ordinated investigation to determine what actions are needed to improve the situation.”

“We have proposed to the Regional Council, joint investigations that should confirm what’s triggering the algal growth and when that growth is starting to occur. We are also proposing more thorough Benthic Biota studies using more sites and at a higher frequency to determine the actual effects the City’s discharge is having on the river.”

“Once we have that information, we can effectively begin to work on the options that will provide the best long-term solution for our river,” said Mr Clifford.

“This isn’t a case of us and them, this is a case of needing to get the appropriate information to make fully informed decisions and get the best result for our river. We need to work with the Regional Council for that to happen, and we are 100 percent committed to continuing our good relationship with Horizons.”

Horizons Regional Council served an abatement notice on the Palmerston North City Council late Friday afternoon. The City Council is seeking advice on how to proceed.

“Receiving the abatement notice doesn’t change our approach,” said Mr Clifford. “Our plans remain the same; conduct the appropriate investigations with Horizons to find out what’s happening, and then get on with what needs to be done. There are obviously discussions that need to be had around the abatement notice, but those are secondary to the most important issue which is finding out what’s actually happening in the Manawatu River.”

“We have a responsibility to our ratepayers to make sure that any investment is in the best interests of the river. We need to be sure that what we invest in will have the best long-term effect, rather than operating off guess work. We need to do this thoroughly, and we need to do this right.”

ENDS

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