The project working group preparing the Bluff wastewater consent has been given until September to prepare its submission.
Council’s Infrastructure and Projects Committee was told yesterday that the team will continue to prepare a two-year consent which will give them time for the new legislative changes to settle.
Legal advice received by council has recommended that the application be extended to five years for the new Water Services Bill to be implemented.
Council currently has a significant consent programme underway across key Three Waters infrastructure.
The Bluff wastewater consent expires in December 2025 and council agreed in December 2024 to proceed with a consent application to continue operating the existing plant under the current discharge consent conditions - for two years.
Environment Southland have confirmed they will receive a submission no later than September 2025.
Group manager infrastructure Erin Moogan said they were still waiting on the cultural impact assessment, and the initial June 2025 deadline would be tight.
The proposed national wastewater environmental performance standards (WEP Standards) were released in early March 2025, and the team was reviewing those, with a view to submitting on the new bill.
In the staff report, the key issue of concern was the current plant’s inability to comply with the WEP Standards for Low-Energy Coastal Waters as proposed.
