After the council issued an abatement notice to the Kurow-Duntroon Irrigation Co to stop work on a section of its $45 million irrigation scheme upgrade, the suggestion the company ought to put up a bond to ensure remediation took place was first raised at a public meeting in Kurow.
Cr Jim Hopkins again raised the issue at the council's first full meeting of the triennium late last month.
Yesterday, council heritage, environment and regulatory group manager Lichelle Guyan said a bond would not be allowed in this instance under the Resource Management Act.
"In respect of bonds, the Resource Management Act 1991 allows for consent authorities to require them in certain circumstances. Those circumstances do not apply to the current compliance situation so the council has not taken that point any further, and is instead focusing on ensuring compliance with the abatement notice," she said.
"Generally speaking, if an abatement notice is not complied with, a council has the option to escalate the matter to the Environment Court to enforce the terms of the notice. The council is satisfied that, at this time, the recent abatement notice is the right step to resolve issues with the pipeline in an efficient manner."
In August, after public complaints the newly installed irrigation pipeline was ruining the visual amenity of the area where the Waitaki River runs alongside State Highway 83 near Kurow, the council investigated, found the work to be in breach of the land-use consent it issued and issued a first abatement notice.
Late last month the council issued a second notice demanding that the company reach "key milestones" and achieve full compliance by September next year.
In an emailed response to questions from the Otago Daily Times, Mrs Guyan was not immediately able to offer any details on those milestones.
The irrigation company is replacing about 44km of ageing open canal with 37km of piped irrigation infrastructure.
The ODT reported late last month some in Kurow fear the controversial section of the pipeline could remain in place if the company runs out of money before it is made to remedy the situation.
