Tauranga City Council's breach of its resource consent for the Te Maunga sewerage ponds may cost it an additional $1.5 million in higher pay-outs to tangata whenua affected by the ponds in Rangataua Bay.

Council's Waste Water Management Review Committee is recommending council pays $50,000 a year for the term of the consent backed dated to 2010, when the fund reached $250,000 and contributions from the council ceased.

Te Maunga sewerage ponds sludge storage consent has expired. File Photo.

The recommended funding-boost is in line with the Tangata Whenua Cultural Report produced last month.

Tangata whenua want the sludge pond decommissioned because of seepage from the wastewater ponds into Rangataua Bay. The current practice of stabilising waste activated sludge (WAS) in Pond 1 was required to cease in 2012 and the council is non-complying with consent 62723.

The committee made the following recommendation:

That The Environmental Mitigation and Enhancement Funding level be a sum which would ensure the fund in total (inclusive of funds already allocated in past years) is equivalent to $50,000 per year from the commencement of the fund to 30 June 2017; and For the three years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 $50,000 per annum and subsequent to that three yearly reviews aligned to the Long Term Plan; and that from 2017/18 the sum of $50,000 be annually CPI adjusted.

It also recommended that there be an upfront contribution with the fund being backdated to the date from which the contributions ceased, and future contributions adjusted with CPI. This is particularly so in light of the non-compliance with consents.

Additional funding would need to be made available to support the additional $50k per year. There is $50k available in the 2016/17 draft annual plan, states the staff report to the committee.

The additional funding required to the consent expiry date in 2040 will total $1.5 million. Funding for the five-year period beyond the consent expiry date would total $ 1.75m.

The recommendations from the committee are yet to be ratified by the full council.

The money is paid into the Environment Mitigation and Enhancement Fund which is a requirement of the consent the city council has to operate the Te Maunga wastewater treatment plant. The committee is a mix of tangata whenua appointments from local iwi, plus city councillors.

Tangata whenua members were in the process of challenging the committee policy over the administration of the fund and the conditions under which pay outs were made.

Council staff are recommending the council either update its policy or develop a new EMEF policy document to clearly allow for a coordinated package of works, potentially over multiple years, rather than focusing on individual stand-alone applications.

There is also a recommendation to review the structure, role and scope of the Wastewater Management Review Committee and further that this review is carried out in isolation of, and in advance of the wider Council governance structure review which is to occur following the triennial election in October 2016.