Latest news with #BanksPeninsula
RNZ News
02-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Cost blowout renews call to scrap council's Akaroa wastewater plans
The current wastewater treatment plant at Akaroa. Photo: Supplied/Christchurch City Council A Banks Peninsula residents' group has renewed calls to scrap council plans for a wastewater plant in the Akaroa township, following a cost blowout of more than $70 million. Under the Christchurch City Council proposal , the existing sewage plant would be relocated and treated wastewater discharged onto farmland and native plants at Hammond Point and Robinson's Bay, instead of into the harbour. For more than 60 years, Akaroa's sewage has been treated and discharged into the sea at the bottom of the culturally significant Takapūneke Reserve. The new scheme was initially budgeted at $94 million, but that figure has ballooned to $167.3 million. The council was also exploring an alternative discharge option of sending treated wastewater directly into the ocean, instead of first irrigating it through land, but this would still cost $148.7 million. Friends of Banks Peninsula deputy chair Suky Thompson said the council's plan was flawed and she was not surprised the cost had blown out. "Our geotechnical engineer at the [resource consent] hearings recommended that much more geotechnical assessment was needed prior to putting this whole proposal up for a consent," she said. "Twenty million dollars of that blowout is to carry out more geotechnical work on the site proposed for the treatment plant, but we think it will still blow out further because much of the steep land which the council proposes to irrigate to saturation hasn't had any geotechnical assessment." Thompson said the proposal did not address Akaroa's leaky pipes. "Our concern is that the amount of wastewater going through the system is largely determined by the poor quality of these sewer pipes in Akaroa, so it's infiltrated by an enormous amount of stormwater. "That means that at times when it's the most wet, when the land is soggy, that's when there's also the most water running through the system so then it has to be stored in enormous storage tanks and the council is planning to irrigate right through winter keeping the land at saturated level which is not suitable for the steep, slip-prone slopes of Banks Peninsula. "In our view it's time for the council to start being more realistic about what it can afford for such a small place as Akaroa -there's less than 1000 sewer connections going into the system." Thompson said the money would be better used overhauling the town's sewerage network. She believed the alternative option of discharging treated wastewater into the ocean would be met with more approval in Akaroa. "It would be much less intrusive to develop, it would be much more resilient going forward, so it's about the detail it's about the treatment standard that would be put in." Photo: SUPPLIED The council said the ocean discharging option would see a 15-16km wastewater pipeline running on the Akaroa Harbour floor, and wastewater discharged one to two kilometres beyond the harbour heads. "The staff update showed operational costs of the ocean outfall would be approximately $380,000 per year, compared to $625,000 per year for land irrigation. Operational and construction risks were outlined, including challenges in identifying leaks and the limited options available for repairs. Staff also repeated their understanding that this option is repugnant to mana whenua. Council head of three waters Gavin Hutchison said even though work was underway on investigating alternatives, no recommendations on a preferred future option would be made until the government's law changes around mandatory wastewater standards for discharge to water, land and overflows were implemented and the views of mana whenua sought. "Having this information will help further inform potential future steps for the current application process. However, regardless of what the new standards permit, we still have a duty to consult under the Local Government Act and consider cultural and community impacts of any preferred option. "Once we have an understanding of the impacts of the new wastewater standards, and have done further work, we expect to be able to brief the elected council on a preferred option for the future scheme in early 2026." Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu declined RNZ's interview request. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
14-06-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
'Scary big huge cloud': Lyttelton neighbour recounts frightening fire
Photo: Facebook/Dave Dunlay A Lyttelton man who lives on the street where a large fire broke out said he was shocked by its scale. Several fire crews were called to Brittan Terrace in the Banks Peninsula township at 5 pm on Friday, where they found two homes engulfed in flames, spreading to a neighbouring property. Six fire engines, a ladder truck, a water tanker, and a command unit attended the scene. One crew remained overnight, dampening down hotspots. Photo: Facebook/Dave Dunlay The fire has been contained, but two homes have been badly damaged. Dave Dunlay, who lives a couple of hundred metres up the street, said he thought it was mist floating across Lyttleton Harbour. "I went outside and smelled the smoke, and then looked down the road and saw a big wall of black smoke, you know? Quite scary big, huge cloud of it. "Very quickly, as it got darker, you saw the orange of the flames." Fire and Emergency has been investigating the scene since early Saturday morning. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
13-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Christchurch tsunami sirens face axe after failed test, communication breakdowns
The sirens may be replaced with emergency mobile alerts. Photo: LDR / Susan Botting The number of tsunami sirens along the Christchurch coast could be cut to as few as four, after an alert system review that found they cause confusion and delays during emergencies. The city has 45 sirens between Brooklands and Taylors Mistake, but next week, Christchurch city councillors will consider a recommendation that would see them only positioned in evacuation zones with limited cell phone coverage. The report recommended the council primarily uses emergency mobile alerts to raise the alarm, in accordance with national and international best practice, moving from a "fragile, unreliable, over-complicated and inconsistent" alerting system to one that was "straightforward and effective". Fewer strategically positioned sirens - in the range of 4-6 - and emergency services, television, radio, website and social media messages would become the secondary alerting method. Christchurch's tsunami sirens failed to sound during a planned test in April , because the Auckland-based contractor responsible was dealing with a car crash outside their property at the time. The council initially blamed human error, then conceded having an emergency system so dependent on one person was unacceptable. The test was rescheduled for 13 July. The council said a "local-source" tsunami could inundate Christchurch and Banks Peninsula evacuation zones in less than 60 minutes, so its top priority was preventing loss of life with an alert system that gave a clear message to evacuate. The review noted sirens caused confusion and delays because: Civil Defence and Emergency Management manager Brenden Winder said the emergency mobile alert method aimed to minimise confusion. "In the rare event of a tsunami, our top priority is preventing loss of life," he said. "This relies on having a straightforward and effective alerting system, giving residents a clear message to evacuate. "Sirens are no longer considered to be a suitable primary tsunami alerting method, as they cause confusion and delay communities responding effectively. "Mobile alerts are used nationally as the main alerting method in an emergency. This sends a clear message straight to the user's phone on what action to take. "We want people to act quickly and decisively in an emergency, and a text alert provides that direction." Staff said another option to upgrade the existing 45 sirens and add 41 sirens for adequate coverage across a new national tsunami evacuation zone issued by the National Emergency Management Agency would come at a substantial cost to the council. Following the magnitude 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in 2016, a communication breakdown meant Christchurch's sirens did not sound until two hours afterwards at 2am - an hour after Civil Defence issued an alert. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Akaroa residents still waiting to return home after storm
The State of Emergency in Canterbury's storm-hit Banks Peninsula has finally been lifted. But almost two weeks after severe rain lashed the region, causing flooding and slips, some Akaroa residents are still waiting to return home. Alan Hemsley had been living in rental accommodation since he was evacuated from his home on Aylmers Valley Road ten days ago. Alan Hemsley, who was evacuated from his home on Alymers Valley Road. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon He said the slip, which sat above his property on the nearby Lighthouse Road, was significant. "There's probably over one thousand cubic metres in volume, it's destabilised, and obviously there's a sliding zone which creates instability, but that material will basically slide down onto the Lighthouse Road. It really needs to be removed, " he said. Heavy rain and flooding caused several slips along Banks Peninsula. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Hemsley's property was one of four that were evacuated by the council as a precaution. He wanted the council to urgently fix the slip so people could return home. "There's nothing like being in your own bed at night, and being on your own property, you can get quality sleep, and it's just peace of mind to be fair, it's easier on everyone," he said. Lighthouse Road has been closed due to Banks Peninsula slips. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon "It'd be nice to see a big digger and a few big trucks up there just to take the pressure off the top of that slip and some subsurface drainage as soon as possible." The council said the storm caused 29 slips in total across the Christchurch district, with the vast majority in Banks Peninsula. Hemsley worked as an excavation contractor on the peninsula and had been flat-out helping with the clean-up. "There's still a list of jobs to do, so we'll get to everyone as soon as we can, but peninsula people are very resilient, it's a wonderful community, we look after each other," he said. Penguin tour business Pōhatu Penguins had been forced to temporarily close because Lighthouse Road, the only road up to its Flea Bay colony, was impassable. General manager Kevin Parthonnaud said they had to refund a number of bookings. Kevin Parthonnaud, Pōhatu Penguins general manager. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon "Over winter, we're getting probably 30 to 40 people maybe a day, so that's two to three tours sometimes a day we've had to cancel," he said. He said another worry was that the business directly funded the conservation work they did with the penguins. "When there's no tourism, the income is not coming in either, it's always a matter of kind of thinking of that," he said. "We're confident that it's going to come back to normal soon." Charlotte Oborne lives on a farm near the Lighthouse Road slip, and said her teenage daughter was having to walk 45 minutes to school because their home was cut off. She said her family was tired of the restrictions on getting around. "A little bit like going back into Covid, as in it's just really quiet and it just means if we're going to go out we just have to plan a bit ahead and check the weather a bit more or whatever to make sure it's all right when we come back in." Oborne said access to Akaroa via a back road meant a journey of about an hour each way. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Akaroa residents still waiting for return home after storm
The State of Emergency in Canterbury's storm-hit Banks Pensinsula has finally been lifted. But almost two weeks after severe rain lashed the region, causing flooding and slips, some Akaroa residents are still waiting to return home. Anna Sargent reports. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
