Signs against a sewerage scheme at sacred Lake Rotokākahi. Photo: LDR / Laura Smith
Works on a controversial sewerage scheme will continue following delays the local council says have added $400,000 to the project's cost.
There is 10 percent remaining on stage one of the $29 million Tarawera Sewerage Scheme, a project that will see 446 homes connected to a wastewater reticulation system.
The scheme is designed to protect the environmental health of Lake Tarawera and keep untreated sewerage from entering it.
The most recent pause, for more than two weeks, was for Rotorua Lakes Council to engage with mana whenua, who held concerns the pipeline risked environmental damage to the water and an area where tūpuna (ancestors) were buried nearby during the 1886 Mount Tarawera eruption.
The lake is in the Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera rohe and is privately owned by iwi. It is overseen by the Lake Rotokākahi Board of Control, which believed there had been a lack of iwi consultation.
As works progressed to the lake last month people occupied iwi land surrounded by flags and protest signs.
They did not leave when works paused on 30 August as the council worked to address the concerns.
At a council meeting on Wednesday, elected members voted to continue with the works after an update from police, staff and contractors.
The decision was made in a public-excluded session.
A tino rangatiratanga flag flies at tapu Lake Rotokākahi near Rotorua. Photo: LDR / Laura Smith
A statement from the council said the risks were different now to when the project was approved in 2018.
It said the reason it was in a public-excluded part of the meeting was for commercial sensitivity and the council would share information with the community as the project progressed.
In follow-up questions from Local Democracy Reporting, a spokesperson said there have been daily conversations with iwi and mana whenua including with partners Tūhourangi Tribal Authority and Te Arawa Lakes Trust as well as the Rotokākahi Board of Control.
"With the increase in protest activity at the current work site, [the] council alongside our contractors and project partners, must now consider the safety risks for both staff working at the site, people travelling through the area and those people who have based themselves at Rotokākahi."
They said more effort was needed to secure the worksite during the delays.
"Traffic management and security services remain at the worksite which does come at a significant cost - we estimate that the delays have contributed a further $400,000 to the project to date."
This included costs associated with an injunction application it lodged earlier in the year, which sought to stop interference with the works.
The site was shut down in February after alleged incidents - including claims of a vehicle being driven at a contractor, verbal abuse and intimidation - prompted the application.
The injunction application was indefinitely adjourned - neither granted nor dismissed.
They were unaware of any incidents but the spokesperson said it had the option of urgently applying for an injunction should circumstances change.
Council infrastructure and environment general manager Stavros Michael previously said the scheme was a result of "extensive community consideration over many years". This included iwi input.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.