Sixteen months after the environment minister was asked to handle consent applications for a controversial $350 million waste-to-energy plant, the Waimate District Council has asked the Government to remove it from its Fast-track Approvals Bill.
Waimate councillors have agreed, after a discussion at a council workshop on Tuesday, that mayor Craig Rowley should write a letter to the Government requesting it remove the proposal from South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) for a waste-to-energy plant from the list of projects to be fast-tracked.
Rowley said the council did not want the project included in the bill, which was designed to speed up resource consents and get big projects built, saying its inclusion meant the Waimate community would lose the chance to have a say.
“It is incredibly important the community has an ability to voice its views on the project,” Rowley said.
Councillors also agreed the council could not support the company’s proposal in its current form, given a lack of information.
“It is disappointing that when the project was first proposed, the company behind it were very intent on having open discussions with the community, but that has not been the case,” he said.
In October, the Government released a list of 149 projects to be fast tracked. SIRRL’s Project Kea was one of those.
At the time, the company behind the plan welcomed that decision.
"The Government should heed the advice of its officials"
But one of the groups formed in opposition to the proposal, Why Waste Waimate (WWW), issued a statement saying many in the community would feel “cheated and disgusted” by its inclusion.
The group’s spokesperson, Robert Ireland, said on Tuesday the group welcomed the council’s decision to send a letter seeking the proposal be returned to the Environment Court.
“WWW doesn’t believe this to be an unreasonable request, given that Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the impacts of this proposal are best determined in the Environment Court when she signed off on the land sale earlier this year,” Ireland said.
“Applying a shortcut to such an extremely complex and potentially dangerous proposal is reckless, and will lead to mistakes that will negatively impact the environment and human health of the Waimate community for the next 35 years and beyond.”
Ireland said he questioned whether those ministers involved in the fast-tracking would be as eager to rush the project through if it was to be sited near them.
“The Government should also heed the advice of its officials at the Ministry for the Environment when they repeatedly provide information suggesting this proposal is flawed.”