Public meeting on Raglan wastewater discharge options

Tuesday 22 June 2021

Waikato District Council is calling on the Raglan community to attend a public meeting at 6-7pm on 29 June at the Raglan Old School Arts Centre to hear a presentation about progress on a project to renew the discharge consent for the Raglan wastewater treatment plant.

With help from Watercare, the Council has spent the past three years investigating options for an environmentally-friendly wastewater discharge solution that will suit the growing Raglan community.

Waikato District Council’s Deputy Mayor, Aksel Bech, has taken a particular interest in the project and says, “This is a major project for the Raglan community so I expect there will be a lot of local interest in the solutions the Council can offer.”

He says the Council must apply to the Waikato Regional Council for a new discharge consent for the Raglan wastewater treatment plant since the plant’s previous long-term consent expired early last year. The treatment plant is currently operating under a temporary consent arrangement until a new long-term solution can be found.

In consultation with iwi and community representatives, a long list of treatment and discharge options has been narrowed to a short list.  Planning, environmental and engineering experts have been assessing these to find a single preferred treatment and discharge solution for the resource consent application.

Local iwi, the wider Raglan community and other stakeholders have expressed a strong preference for a discharge to land option. As the availability of suitable local land is limited, the Council has been examining a range of solutions including options that combine the reuse of reclaimed water for land irrigation during summer with an alternative discharge solution during the winter months when local clay soils are saturated.

Short list wastewater treatment and discharge options also include upgrades to the Raglan wastewater plant to provide a more highly purified end-product for reclaimed water re-use or discharge.

Deputy Mayor Bech says, “The public meeting provides an opportunity for the community to hear how the treatment and discharge options have been assessed using social, cultural, environmental, technical and affordability criteria, and what investigations are still underway.”

Cr Bech says the Council is hoping to be able to apply for a long-term wastewater discharge consent for the Raglan wastewater treatment plant before the end of the 2021 calendar year.

Following the public meeting there will also be a series of public drop-in sessions on the project at the Raglan public library every Wednesday in July from 9am-1pm. These sessions will be run by Watercare, which is contracted to deliver the Council’s waters services. A Watercare planner will be on hand to answer questions from Raglan residents and ratepayers about the current status of the project.

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For more information please contact:
Jacob Quinn, Communications & Engagement Manager, Waikato District Council
Email: Jacob.quinn@waidc.govt.nz, Mobile: 0275098907