Central Otago District Council (CODC) councillors last year spoke out strongly against the regional council’s plan to put an effluent disposal site on the straight, which begins at the Highlands corner and continues until the Suncrest Orchard Jones family fruit stall, at the beginning of the Kawarau Gorge.
District councillors said last year the plan showed "how little the ORC knows about our area" and it was "time to stand up to" the ORC.
At the time, ORC director engineering, hazards and science Dr Gavin Palmer said ORC staff had chosen the State Highway 6 site "based on need and safety", because spillage of stock truck effluent in the Kawarau Gorge was affecting road safety, the environment and human health.
The ORC did not need CODC permission to build the site where it wanted to, although it would require consent from the district council to discharge the effluent to the CODC’s wastewater system.
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said this week the CODC remained "fundamentally opposed" to the Ripponvale site, and would continue to represent the views of Cromwell residents, who were strongly against that site being used.
"This stretch of road, particularly at this time of year, is a tourist icon in the district. It is a gorgeous entranceway to Central Otago for those travelling from Queenstown and regularly has tourists stopping and taking photographs. Trucks depositing stock truck effluent are not welcome in that vista."
ORC councillors agreed on Wednesday that the ORC, CODC and NZ Transport Agency would come up with agreed criteria for the preferred site, and the CODC would indicate its preferred site that met those criteria by July 31.
At the meeting, regional council chairman Stephen Woodhead said it did not require an agreement with the district council, which had made clear it did not want to pay for the project.
"It’s not their land. There’re no new sites waiting down the road. Let’s get real. The ones that are viable have been investigated, and we’ve got two preferred.
"Overall, most of the day the site will be empty, not visible unless close up, just a slab of concrete with a light on a pole."
Two Dunstan ORC councillors, Michael Laws and Graeme Bell, have also spoken out against the proposed site on the Ripponvale straight, Cr Laws saying this week he was "stunned that the ORC are still contemplating this vandalism of an iconic Central Otago attraction".
Cr Laws has lodged a formal complaint with the ORC against its process that chose Ripponvale straight for the effluent disposal site.
