'Pure sewer': Stressed Christchurch community lives under the eternal stench of poo

Thursday, 12 May 2022

Damian Elley says living under the stench of the Bromley wastewater plant is like having something rather unpleasant on toast in the morning, in your sandwiches at lunch and a similarly disgusting concoction at dinner.

Damian Elley has an eloquent description for the stench in Christchurch’s air.

“You’d just say 200 people have done a shit in your lounge,” he says. “It’s just pure sewer, you can taste it.”

An invisible offensive smell holds the east Christchurch community hostage.

It wafts from the city’s wastewater treatment plant in Bromley and the two large filters which suffered catastrophic damage during a fire in November.

* Christchurch City Council advised to move stinky compost plant

* 'Horrendous, foul, toxic stench' from Christchurch wastewater plant worsens

Damian Elley says the stench from the damaged plant is vile, leaving him no choice but to don a heavy-duty mask.

* Moving stinky compost plant away from homes is the right thing to do, MP tells council

“It’s the worst smell you’ll ever smell,” Elley said. “If this was me and I had this smell coming out of my house, mark my words, they’d be here telling me to fix it immediately.”

Caleb Saunderson set up a community meeting about the stench from the fire-damaged wastewater plant in Bromley. “I’ve had enough,” he says.

Elley lives about 600 metres from the plant with his partner and two young children.

He dons an industrial-level mask when he goes outside, even if he is just putting his bins out to the kerb.

“People drive past me on the street laughing.”

Henrietta Hall says she feels trapped in her home because of the smell.

On Friday, residents affected by the stench have a chance to air their grievances, thanks to a 7.30pm public meeting at the Bromley community centre, set up by local resident Caleb Saunderson.

Christchurch City Council staff, some councillors and mayor Lianne Dalziel are set to attend.

Frustration and anger from a stressed community are expected to be on full display. Many want to be compensated.

Whitney Campbell has suffered health effects because of the stench.

Residents have changed their lives to make days somewhat bearable. Clotheslines are obsolete and kids play inside. Opening windows is a long-forgotten luxury.

The only relief now is that there is a defined finish line. The council says the burnt material causing the worst of the smell will be gone by the first week of September.

Still, many residents resent the council and its lack of communication since the blaze. Some wonder why work to remove the stinky material is only starting six months after the damage.

“[The smell is] absolutely relentless, it doesn’t let up,” said Saunderson, the man behind the community meeting.

He and his family live about 500 metres from the plant. They used to spend a lot of time outdoors, he said. “We can’t do that any more.”

Saunderson’s children, aged 6 and 2, used to play outside, but no longer. “They come back in [and] they’ve got burning eyes, they’ve got sore throats,” he said.

Asked why he organised the community meeting, Saunderson was concise. “I’ve had enough.”

This is the material inside the damaged filters that is causing the worst of the smell. All of it should be removed by the first week of September.

Whitney Campbell, a Bromley resident, said the smell was in the air 95% of the time.

“You do smell it inside and in the middle of the night [if you get up] to go to the toilet,” she said.

Campbell said she has always suffered from migraines, but has had them more frequently since the wastewater plant smell began.

“It’s so hard to look after an almost two-year-old when you’re trying not to be sick.”

Katinka Visser, who also lives in Bromley, said the smell was making her cough and sneeze.

“I feel like my life’s on hold,” she said.

Henrietta Hall, who lives in Linwood, said she felt trapped in her home.

“On hot days, or just days we’d like to be sitting outside and enjoying our place, we have to sit inside,” she said.

Communication from the council since the fire had been shocking, Hall said, but had improved in recent weeks.

“I can’t help thinking that if this had been in one of the wealthier suburbs, that the response would’ve been really different,” she said.

Dalziel apologised to the “stressed” community for poor communication during a council meeting on Thursday.

“We didn’t front foot the showing of what was going on behind the scenes,” she said. “I regret that.”

Council staff have said they could not remove any of the stinky material inside the fire-damaged filters until the council’s insurers were happy.

The go-ahead was given on March 25.

“We’ve been going as quick as humanly possible,” one staff member said.

The council is planning to hold wellbeing workshops later this month for affected residents.

Councillors will be briefed next week on options for supporting the community.