"[T]he cause of the calamity are ... sitting, neatly itemised, in Wellington City Council’s own records. ...
"On 27 May 2021, Wellington City Council’s Long-Term Plan Committee faced a clear fork in the road."Officers presented councillors with water investment options, including one — Water Option 3 — that contained a $391 million wastewater renewals programme... to reduce sewage pollution, starting with the central city and south-coast catchments now making headlines.
"At the same meeting, officers recommended Cycleways Option 3, with capital expenditure of $120 million over ten years. ... An amendment was moved by then-councillor [and now Green MP] Tamatha Paul ... to adopt Cycleways Option 4, expanding the programme to $226 million — nearly doubling it.
"That amendment passed.
"Accelerated wastewater renewal did not.
"The vote is on video. The numbers are in the Long-Term Plan. The consequences are now floating in Cook Strait."~ Peter Bassett from his post 'Wellington’s Sewage Crisis Wasn’t an Accident. It Was a Vote — and Everyone’s Pretending Not to Remember'
1 comment:
Nice narrative, but I'm not convinced this is accurate. The issues reportedly occurred downstream of the treatment plant, with the large outfall pipe (taking treated sewage from the plant out to sea) backing up for unknown reasons. Wastewater renewals such as what was proposed in 2021 are usually focussed on upstream catchments, typically stopping stormwater from getting into the sewerage system and causing overflows upstream of the plant. I'm open to being convinced with the appropriate detail, but as explained it seems a dubious link.
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