Something fishy going on in Auckland as factory odour plagues Ellerslie locals

Thursday, 13 January 2022

Allied Bulk’s refrigerator in Ellerslie is responsible for the fish smell.

Something fishy is going on in Auckland – or at least it smells like it.

Residents across the suburb of Ellerslie first started reporting the smell of rotten fish and meat back in November 2020, and they say they’re still being plagued by more than a year on.

Dozens have taken to the Ellerslie Residents Facebook page to vent their frustrations, while many have gone a step further and reported the issue to Auckland Council.

Despite residents’ months-long crusade to get the pungent pong addressed, local Chris Jury told Stuff the odour was beginning to become constant.

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“It’s almost every night now and some days it’s so bad.”

The smell has been found to originate from cargo and freight company Allied Bulk, based on Gavin St, which processes fish and animal protein waste for the pet food industry.

While residents have submitted numerous complaints, Jury said a solution was yet to be found.

“More details [about the situation] come up on the Ellerslie Facebook page all the time, but we just don't seem to get a solution,” Jury said.

Local Florist Kerry McCullough told Stuff that although the smell came and went, it was a constant source of annoyance for those who live and work nearby.

“I asked one day on the Ellerslie Facebook page what everyone was talking about [regarding] the smell. Someone told me that it was coming from Allied [Bulk] … there are lots of comments all the time regarding the smell saying some days are worse than others,” she said.

Allied Bulk said the smell was due to the open and closing of its refrigerator doors.

The company was served with an abatement notice – a notice served to a person or company breaching the Resource Management Act – by Auckland Council in October 2021, telling them to put measures in place to ensure the odour did not escape into the surrounding areas.

Independent consultant Phil Hefferman, speaking on behalf of Allied Bulk’s parent company HWR, said most of the complaints it received were valid, and it was working with the council to create a new management plan to control the smell – something it didn’t have before.

He said there was increased tracking of what goes through the refrigerator and at what times of the day, which were cross-referenced against the complaints to see if they were valid.

Asked if there was a deadline for when the new management plan would be in place, the company said it was a work in progress.

“The plan is fluid, and is a constant work in progress with the council,” he said.

Kerri Fergusson, Auckland Council’s manager of compliance, response and investigations, said in a statement the company was served an infringement notice in December, due to non-compliance with the earlier abatement notice, after officers responding to a separate complaint noticed the smell.

Fergusson added its investigation remained open and was under review to ensure compliance.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed comments from Phil Hefferman to Phil Botting. (Story updated January 14, 2022, 8.28am)