No plans yet to shift Franz Josef poo ponds

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

A short-term fix to protect Franz Josef's vulnerable poo ponds has been finished.

But there is no plan yet to shift the tourist hotspot's wastewater infrastructure away from the Waiho (Waiau) River.

The nearby river previously destroyed the ponds eight years ago, and local council authorities are again worried by its changing course.

Westland District Council announced Tuesday the completion of "unbudgeted" emergency work to extend and shore-up stopbanks at the Franz Josef sewerage treatment site, as the Waiho River begins to encroach.

The council authorised the new protection banks after a storm on January 20 saw the river radically change course, with 95% of its main flow running into the Tatare Stream northwest of the ponds.

Since then the main Waiho channel has been running hard against the Havill Wall stopbank immediately in front of the ponds.

The council has now lengthened its stopbank off the end of the Havill Wall and curved it around the end of the sewerage ponds site amid West Coast Regional Council concerns about the rapid avulsion in the area.

Chief executive Simon Bastion said the council's contractor Westroads and South Westland's Campbell Agriculture and Contracting "shored up" protection to the west of the ponds site.

It gave "breathing space" and responded to the Regional Council's immediate concern about the rate of the riverbed avulsion in that area, he said.

The $370,000 cost was "unbudgeted" at this stage.

"Getting that work in place has obviously given us a lot of surety short-term … we will be seeking external funding to alleviate the costs to ratepayers," he said.

At this stage there was no guarantee about reducing the cost to ratepayers, he said.

The Franz Josef poo ponds site has been a known weak point for council for years.

The wastewater ponds and treatment site has rebuilt once after the Waiho River swept through in the April 2016 flood, which also destroyed the nearby Scenic Group Mueller Wing hotel complex.

In the aftermath the district council decided against shifting its wastewater infrastructure and controversially commissioned what is now known as the Havill Wall to protect the area.

Asked by LDR if council has done anything at all to explore a new site, Bastion replied: "not yet".

"There's critical components to line up here in terms of where to next," he said.

"It really comes down to any funding or for council to approve in the next annual plan."

However, at this stage council did not even have a scope to present to ratepayers within the 2024-34 long-term plan but "the actual reality" would be a replacement timeframe of up to four years.

Bastion said council could not immediately rely on central Government plans to speed up the Resource Management Act process for critical infrastructure.

Regional council chief executive Darryl Lew this week warned the river has now "cut back" about 50m towards the ponds area.

In the meantime, council was continuing its north bank protection scheme to extend, widen and raise stopbanks from Franz Josef township to the ponds.

This included improving and linking in the Havill Wall - to eventually pass into regional council ownership from the district council.

Lew said his council was aware of water now filtering through the Havill Wall from the river including into the ponds area but it was not unprecedented.

"The Havill Wall is below standard but we've investigated what we need to do there, and the (improvement) work is programmed," he said.

"We're aware of the seepage through parts of the bank. Our banks in terms of design are not like North Island (protection) banks. They're largely gravel with tow rock … you inevitably get seep.

"We're monitoring it and we've got no immediate concerns."