Horowhenua water ‘national disgrace’
"This is proving very challenging to resolve, but I am confident it will be resolved." Mayor Brendan Duffy, on Foxton and Foxton Beach water
Horowhenua’s drinking water ranges from ‘‘a national disgrace’’ to ‘‘generally good’’, according to the district’s council candidates.
The Manawatu Standard candidates what they thought.
MAYORAL CANDIDATES Michael Feyen
said health problems abounded and ‘‘most’’ people did not drink the water.
Feyen said he would ‘‘acknowledge’’ there is a problem and ‘‘directly’’ seek help from authorities to actively tackle what’s wrong.
The council had no real will to look at infrastructure, he said.
said discolouration in Foxton and Foxton Beach was due to the nature of the bore water. It was receiving ‘‘priority attention’’ from experts.
‘‘This is proving very challenging to resolve, but I am confident it will be resolved.’’
The council had built a membranefiltration system for Shannon and Tokomaru’s water was also improved. Levin had a new six-million litre storage tank and new treatment-plant contract.
said Havelock North’s troubles were a big wake-up call for all councils.
Hunt said safe drinking water had been a major issue for her when she last ran for mayor.
Fixing water supplies was a top priority and the starting point was specialist advice.
She said the council was more concerned with its own brand than with the state of the water.
said he and the majority of the community considered the quality of water ‘‘close to the standards of a third-world country’’.
‘‘One of our local GPS was astounded at the high number of gastrointestinal bacterial infections that were contracted from our water.
‘‘She had only seen these levels in third-world countries.’’
He said water needed to be addressed urgently.
Brendan Duffy Anne Hunt Matt Clark WAIOPEHU WARD Malcolm Hadlum
asked all
said water quality in Horowhenua was a ‘‘national disgrace’’. This was because the very councils authorised to look after water were assisting in polluting it, he said.
Hadlum wanted funding given to community groups and experts who could ‘‘make a real difference to our waterways, not just token gestures’’.
said generally the water quality was good, but she was aware areas of Foxton had concerns.
Webby said cleaning of the pipes was a high priority, but she suggested a filter as a short-term fix.
Judy Webby KERE KERE WARD Christina Paton
said there was perceived incompetence over water quality at central-government level – ‘‘they simply don’t care’’.
She said the Resource Management Act had severe gaps that allowed a court ordered review of the Palmerston North wastewater consent to be avoided by Horizons Regional Council and Palmerston North City Council.
Legislation and local governance must be challenged. Paton said there was no guaranteed public protection at any level.
said the water out of his tap in Foxton was brown and the taste was ‘‘totally unacceptable’’. He would endeavour to find out exactly what was happening and why.
Girling said transparency was essential, as the issue affected the health of the community.
John Girling
said drinking-water quality was an ongoing issue and would always require further work.
He had no hesitation with drinking water straight from the tap in Foxton or Foxton Beach.
However, the supply network needed to be upgraded for those with ongoing problems.
‘‘Contamination of our river water is a much more serious problem.’’
said she had lived in Horowhenua for nearly 20 years and had not once been affected by the water.
‘‘I wore a white shirt as a school uniform to college for four years and I never had any discolouration to this or any of
Neville Gimblett Hannah Street
my light-coloured clothing.’’
However, Street said a solution needed to be found as soon as possible for areas dealing with discolouration.
Street would endeavour to explore as much scientific fact as possible to help rectify problems.
said the council had invested heavily in recent years in delivering quality drinking water to the district’s communities.
He said there was no doubt some Foxton residents from time to time received discoloured water, while many did not.
‘‘For those that are, there is no doubt it is very frustrating, and not what anyone should expect.’’
Ross Brannigan LEVIN WARD Chris Corke
said clean water was a basic necessity of life.
‘‘Poor water quality leads to poor health, which has many unfortunate outcomes.’’
Corke said there was dispute about whether it was safe.
If elected, he would ensure facts were presented independently. Discussions based on fact rather than emotion would ensure all parties were more comfortable with the approach.
said overall, the district’s water was ‘‘acceptable but patchy’’, remembering there was more than one system.
In Levin, major work on upgrading storage and treatment was nearly completed. In Shannon and Tokomaru the water was good. Foxton and Foxton Beach had more work to do.
‘‘Most importantly, our water is safe, since it is monitored and treated.’’
said water quality ranged from tolerable to undrinkable in different areas.
Van Hagen said her vote on the council would be strongly for fixing all waterquality issues. She would organise public meetings to find out how bad the situation was, so that she could target the worst issues first.
Ross Campbell, Craig Timms, Vivi Deighton, Barry Judd, Victoria Kayesimmons, Paul King, Jo Mason, Piri-hira Tukapua, Bernie Wanden, Wayne Bishop and Christine Mitchell did not respond.
Tony Rush Chontelle Van Hagen