Barrister to decide whether public gets say on Christchurch bottler's bore plans

Thursday, 15 November 2018

A look at Christchurch's Cloud Ocean Estate water bottling production plant. (Video first published in November 2018)

A Wellington barrister will decide if the public can have a say on plans by a bottling company to extract water from a deep bore in north Christchurch.

Richard Fowler QC was appointed on Thursday, after unanimous approval by Environment Canterbury (ECan) councillors, as an independent commissioner to oversee Cloud Ocean Water's request to use a 186m bore at its Belfast plant so it can export 1.5 billion litres of bottled water a year.

Cloud Ocean Water is seeking permission to extract water from an aquifer 186m beneath its Christchurch plant.

Richard Fowler QC has been appointed to decide if the public should have a say on an application from water bottling firm Cloud Ocean Water.

Fowler will decide by December 3 if the application is publicly notified, where anyone can offer an opinion; limited notified, when only people considered to be adversely affected can have their say; or non-notified, when the impact is deemed to be no more than minor.

If he rules it should be notified he will chair a hearings panel that will decide on the future of the application; if it is not notified, he will decide on the application himself.

* Fears over threat to city drinking supplies from water bottling plant

* Canterbury water on way to Chinese market as bottling plant starts production

* Decades-old consents should not be used to allow for water bottling, court hears

* Bottler caught illegally taking water likely to avoid serious punishment

Christchurch City Council is opposing Cloud Ocean Water's bid to take water from a deep well at its Belfast plant.

* Environment Canterbury orders China-based firm to stop water bottling after it breached consent

* Environment Canterbury accused of 'bending the law' over water bottling consents**

Water bottling is a hot topic in Christchurch - a protester made her views felt outside ECan's Christchurch office on Thursday while councillors inside approve Fowler's appointment.

Appointing a commissioner for a notification decision is an unusual step, taken because Cloud Ocean Water's application to vary its consent is subject to judicial review proceedings in the High Court.

Campaign group Aotearoa Water Action (AWA) is taking legal action against the firm and ECan over whether they should be allowed to rely on old resource consents to now bottle water.

The China-owned firm has permission to take more than 1.5 billion litres of water every year.

AWA has raised concerns about the way ECan has dealt with Cloud Ocean Water's application, saying it calls into question the 'integrity and independence of its processes'.

ECan initially rejected a request through the firm's drilling contractor to change the conditions of an existing consent, saying the proposal to take from the deep bore would have to be treated as a new application.

Council staff fear the bottling firm's use of the deep bore could threaten supplies of drinking water in Christchurch.

But three weeks later ECan agreed to consider the same change of conditions application.

AWA believes ECan's acceptance of this application allowed Cloud Ocean Water to get around a ban on new takes in the Christchurch/West Melton area.

AWA spokesman Peter Richardson welcomed Fowler's appointment, saying he hoped the group and the wider public would be able to have input into his final decision.

But he added: 'We believe ECan has a fundamental conflict of interest arising from the possibility they could be sued by Cloud Ocean for advice given by ECan staff before the company set up its bottling plant, if Cloud Ocean is unable to obtain the consents it needs for its operation.

'Where there is a conflict of interest, or even a perception of a conflict of interest, ECan must stand aside from the decision-making.'

ECan said the original application was rejected because it did not contain an 'assessment of environmental effects', and a resubmitted version meant it could be accepted as a request for a change of conditions.

The city council last week demanded ECan to assess the potential impacts on the public drinking water supply before progressing with the application.

The ECan spokeswoman said the organisation 'continues to audit' potential effects, and that 'all the relevant groundwater science and planning matters are being considered'.

Documents published online by councillor Vicki Buck revealed council staff have serious worries that use of the bore could compromise an aquifer and leave parts of the city short of drinking water.

The bore is in a water supply zone which could see a 50 per cent increase in demand over the next 30 years, and 20 per cent in the next decade alone.

Cloud Ocean already has permission to extract water from a shallow bore, but wants the option to take some or all of that water from its second, deeper bore.

Adding the second bore will not allow it to take any more water than it already has permission to use.