At a Waimate District Council workshop on 26 March 2024, the Council’s Regulatory and Compliance Group Manager and Planner provided the Council with an update on the South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) incinerator proposal. Following this update, Waimate Dr Crispin Langston addressed the Council on emissions from incineration plants and what impacts those emissions have on human health. This was followed by an address from Robert Ireland, who provided an overview of data from operating CNTY plants in China. CNTY is the 60% owner of SIRRL; they will be building and operating the plant, providing the componentry and technology, and providing most of the $350m funding for the plant. This data showed the appalling track record of these plants and highlighted the inconsistency between what SIRRL claim they will provide and what they are achieving.
At this meeting, Deputy Mayor Sharyn Cain suggested that WDC write a letter to the central government opposing the potential fast-tracking of the incinerator.
Incinerator's inclusion on Fast-Track list
On 6 October 2024, the Government released the 149 fast-track listed projects. Included was SIRRL’s Waimate incinerator proposal. The next day, WDC CE Stuart Duncan was contacted and asked for his thoughts on SIRRL’s inclusion. Mr Duncan said he was disappointed in the process they are using and was surprised it made the list.
Mr Duncan also stated that Councillor O’Connor had informed him of the proposal’s inclusion the previous Thursday, four days before the list was released to the public.
Mr Duncan was also asked to provide a copy of the letter that the Deputy Mayor had suggested at the 26 March Council workshop.
Mr Duncan said, “I will check up on that, but I’m worried it wasn’t sent,” something he later confirmed in an email.
WDC, No Importation of Waste a 'Must Have'.
In an August 16, 2023, meeting with two Why Waste Waimate representatives, the CE said no importation of waste and a bond were ‘must have’ conditions for WDC on any SIRRL resource consent. Waimate DC mayor Craig Rowley echoed this a month later in a September 26, 2023 Platform interview with Michael Laws, when he said no importation of waste was a must-have for WDC.
Following the confirmation that the OIO had granted SIRRL consent to purchase the land required to site the incinerator, a Newsroom article by David Williams surfaced showing that Finance Minister Nicola Willis has removed a clause in the OIO consent that SIRRL only obtain waste from within the South Island to fuel the plant, effectively allowing the importation of waste.
Given the CE and Mayor’s clear stance on waste importation, one would expect them to be outraged by the Minister’s move. However, their silence since Minister Willis’s decision in March 2024 is concerning.
The Council’s inaction raises the question of why they are so reluctant to publicly call out this proposal, leaving us all with a sense of frustration and disappointment.
A simple letter requesting that SIRRL’s resource consent not be fast-tracked was beyond councils efforts. Yet, a request to the Mayor in August 2021 by SIRRL’s public relations firm for a “supporting statement” for the rollout of the incinerator proposal, was dutifully provided.
WDC's Anti Three Waters Reform Stance.
The level of resources WDC used to try and fight the Three Waters bill provides an example of how, when motivated, the Council can provide clear and continuous messaging against what they perceived as Government overreach. Yet, they have a proposal that stands to affect the health and well-being of the residents of the Waimate District for the next 35 years and beyond, recklessly fast-tracked by Government overreach, yet they couldn’t be bothered to send a single letter.
Community Questions Not Welcome?
Following the release of the fast-track list on October 6, on October 10, Mayor Rowley released a statement on social media saying that all questions regarding the fast-tracking of SIRRL’s incinerator should be directed to the Ministry for the Environment.
The fast-tracking of the incinerator has removed the resource consent from the Environment Court, removing the community’s ability to submit on the consent. The Council’s response is to post an FB message directing any community questions away from the Council, suggesting that community questions are unwelcome.
Was WDC’s request to call-in the incinerator proposal merely to wash its hands of it?
Read more below, about Waimate District Council’s involvement with the waste incinerator proposal dating back to June 2020.