Wastewater and sewage were top of mind for submitters to the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board public forum, at its meeting last week in Waitati.
Seacliff resident Alex McAlpine gave a detailed presentation outlining his concerns about the upgrade of the Seacliff wastewater treatment plant, a lack of community consultation, and the potential for water runoff to undermine local properties.
Mr McAlpine said despite there being no council consultation about wastewater with Seacliff residents since 1996, locals had received letters that the work was getting under way. Since then, landslips had started to appear, he said.
He believed the topography of Seacliff made it particularly susceptible to landslips, and that recent slips may have been caused by the release of groundwater.
Mr McAlpine asked the board to request the Dunedin City Council suspend work on the wastewater treatment plant upgrade, and to hold a community meeting to allow residents to learn more from officials and discuss their concerns.
Waikouaiti Coast Community Board chairman Alasdair Morrison said the board had been unaware of the situation, and was looking into it.
Waitati resident Gisele Laven also spoke at the board’s public forum to describe a bad experience she was having dealing with a contractor at her property, in relation to dealing with sewage and her septic tank.
Describing her back yard as a "slippery, slimy bog", she asked the board to lobby the council for a sewerage system to be built in Waitati.
Mr Morrison assured Ms Laven that the board was acutely aware of the issue of sewage in the area and had spoken to the council about it. Any solution would "not be easy, nor cheap", he said.
Cr Jim O’Malley said the council would need to do research to understand the community’s wishes about a sewage treatment plant, and its cost, before anything could happen.
Speed plan
The top item in the Governance Support Officer’s report was the board’s submission to the Draft Speed Management Plan 2024-2027, which sparked a lot of discussion.
In its submission, the board stated it was in favour of keeping roads safe for all, but some of the suggestions in the proposed plan were "neither sensible nor practical".
As with other boards, Waikouaiti Coast felt that while some proposed speed reductions would be effective, others would make speed limits too slow and would lead to frustration among drivers and unsafe overtaking.
Other topics covered at the board meeting included the forthcoming freedom camping season, roadside vegetation, and the continuing bedding in of new ORC bus services.
