21 March 2018
In the March edition of The Fringe Magazine Waitakere Ranges Local Board chairman Greg Presland has shared his views on
the imminent lodging of the resource consent for the proposed new Huia Water Treatment Plant in Waima, Titirangi. “It is
fair to say that the proposal is problematic... a significant amount of bush will be cleared… us locals are very
attached to our kauri.”
Local business owners are also increasingly concerned about how the years ahead of heavy trucks and traffic through
Titirangi village would affect their businesses if Watercare were given resource consent. Watercare have advised that
there would be around 90 heavy truck movements per day in the peak period, during which the clearing and levelling of
4.3 hectares of endangered forest, culverting of a stream and works on access roading would occur.
The Local Board backed and submitted an alternative location, in the area currently being used by Watercare to dump
sludge near the lower Nihotupu dam. “The benefit of that site was that disruption to the neighbourhood would be limited,
the sludge would have to be cleaned up and the bush cleared would have been of low quality and no significant trees
would be affected” said Presland. Despite this alternative not being a Significant Ecological Area it was rejected by
Watercare on the basis that there were “operational risks to the water storage in an emergency and operating costs would
be significantly higher because of the need to pump water up hill.”
Local resident Cyril Hamiaux says “This argument by Watercare is totally fallacious and as for the risk argument, this
is plain ridiculous. When we (direct neighbours) raised to Watercare the potential risks of having that plant literally
just above our heads, they went on and on telling us how safe the new plant would be, best building codes, earthquake
proof, etc.... well, if it’s safe for it to be built just over people’s head, then surely it must be safe enough to
build it 700m away from a lake, the lower Nihotupu reservoir”.
Watercare aren’t considering an option that would significantly reduce risk to the local community and opex pumping
costs whilst repeatedly withholding from the Community Liaison Group what these actual costs are.
The Ecological Value Report produced by Boffa Miskell and the review of that report by Shona Myers make it absolutely
clear that Watercare gravely underestimated the value of the ecology on the site when recommending Waima, Titirangi as
their preferred site. Since that recommendation to it’s Board of Directors almost 2 years ago, the increased presence of
kauri dieback in the Waitakere Ranges has elevated the ecological value of these taonga further.
The Titirangi Protection Group strongly urges Auckland Council, the Waitakere Ranges Local Board and other interested
groups to challenge Watercare on the details of their proposal and to advocate for transparency regarding the best
option for Aucklanders and the environment.
ENDS