Christchurch City Council's composting plant in Bromley. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
A Christchurch woman says the city council's plan to deal with its stinking compost plant in Bromley does not go far enough.
Residents have been complaining about the smell for more than a decade and councillors have now agreed to shift processing to an industrial site in South Hornby.
Ecogas would run the plant, processing the city's green waste from late 2026.
In the meantime, a short-term solution was for the first processing stage to be done indoors in Bromley, and the second at the Kate Valley landfill in North Canterbury.
Council said this could be implemented by April 2024.
Bromley resident Vickie Walker said it still meant another summer with the stench.
"Nothing changes until April next year. Long-term, it sounds positive that it's going to close and move, but it won't open in the next place until 2026," she said.
"For them to say they're going to process this inside the Bromley plant in the meantime and not have a smell ... I just feel that, why couldn't that have happened before now? If they knew that's what they needed to do, why didn't they do that before now?"
Walker wrote a letter to the council saying the odour was ruining her quality of life, and the only option was to shut the plant now.
"God help them if they have a problem over there at the new plant, because what we've been through, I'd never want anyone else to go through it," she said.
Council said there would not be any smell from the South Hornby plant because it would be fully enclosed.
It said kerbside organics and garden waste would be converted into products such as fertiliser, biogas and biofuel, and the new plant was expected to reduce emissions by 80 percent compared with the current one's operation.
Hornby ward councillor Mark Peters said council had worked as quickly as it could to find a solution.
"It feels like a long time, and far too long for the residents of Bromley to have suffered like they have. But, things do turn slowly in council circles and staff have had a real focus on finding a solution and getting it in place as soon as we can," he said.
"We're committed as a council that should there be any ongoing problems [in Bromley], we will look with urgency to try and get on top of it."
Mayor Phil Mauger said the outcome was a win for Christchurch.
"The location of the long-term solution has been carefully considered. The new plant will be located in an industrial area, which is zoned for this type of activity," he said.
"The plant will deliver a totally different system from how we do things at the existing Organics Processing Plant at Metro Place in Bromley."
The Ōtautahi Christchurch Regional Organics Processing Facility will be located in Aruhe Road in South Hornby.
Residents want to see site closed
Local councillor Yani Johanson told Morning Report the announcement of the new plant has been a long time coming for residents.
But while residents would be relieved they wouldn't be completely happy until the site was closed.
He believed the removal of the second stage of the process (which occurs outside at Bromley) and shifting it to a rural area in North Canterbury at the Kate Valley landfill site would be hugely beneficial.
"Council staff advice was that they believe that will address a significant number of the offensive and objectionable odours by not having any material stored outside and shipping the material up to Kate Valley to do the second stage of the composting."
Yani Johanson. Photo: Supplied / Christchurch City Council
Johanson said the root of all the problems lay with the council's poor decision in locating the plant in Bromley in 2007.
The plant continually breached its consents and every time the residents were told improvements would be made, "things got significantly worse".
"What it appears is the plant never had the capacity to deal with the peak demands of summer but also there were a number of processes that were never up to scratch."
"It's a process that has been used around the world and in other parts of New Zealand" - Councillor Yani Johanson
Johanson said the latest council decisions were an important milestone but residents wouldn't be happy until the final truck left the site.
"We need to do what we can in the interim but the key is getting that new facility up and running to give the residents some relief."
Councillor Johanson said the council will still be paying a similar amount for the disposal of its waste once it sets up the new operation.
"It's a process that has been used around the world and in other parts of New Zealand. It's a process that has had very few complaints..."
He hoped it would be completed within three years.
The Bromley suburb has also been plagued by a putrid stench from the wastewater treatment plant after it was badly damaged by fire in 2021.