Waste-to-energy company wins appeal of returned consent application

Monday, 15 May 2023

An artist's impression of the proposed waste-to-energy plant in Waimate.

A company hoping to build a waste-to-energy plant in Waimate District has narrowly won an appeal of the decision to return its second consent application due to “insufficient information”.

South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) announced plans for the $350 million waste incinerator in 2021, and in April 2022 purchased a 15-hectare piece of land in Glenavy for the plant, known as Project Kea.

SIRRL originally lodged consent applications for the plant in September. After they were kicked back by both councils in October due to “fundamental” information missing, they resubmitted them in November, only to have them sent back again.

In January, SIRRL appealed a decision by the Waimate District Council and Environment Canterbury to return its resource consent applications for a second time due to “insufficient information” – in particular, a lack of a Cultural Impact Assessment (CIA).

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South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) plans to build a $350 million waste incinerator.

At the time of lodging an appeal, SIRRL had asked for the objection to be heard by an independent commissioner.

The hearing was held at ECan’s Council Chambers in Christchurch, in April, with independent commissioner Rob Enright appointed.

A flowchart on how the proposed waste-to-energy plant proposed for Waimate will work.

Enright was in favour of SIRRL’s objection, and directed WDC and ECan to accept the resource consent application as complete, in his report released on Friday.

Enright’s summary said in the circumstances of this proposal, it was “not mandatory for SIRRL to obtain a CIA”.

“To the extent relevant, discretionary factors largely favour granting the objection.

“My decision to uphold the objection was, as noted, made by a narrow margin.

“One relevant factor, available to me, but that was not available to the consent authorities at the time of their decision to reject the application as incomplete is the effluxion of time, with no progress having been made in SIRRL’s request for the Rūnanga to provide a CIA.

“Given that my decision is being made in May 2023, the objector has had to wait a further six months for (effectively) no progress. This delay is (as noted) relevant to my assessment of the discretion.”

Enright said if an applicant took reasonable steps to secure a CIA and was unable to secure one within a reasonable timeframe, it must “in principle” be able to do its own assessment of the actual and potential cultural effects, through an independent expert.

However, he said such an assessment was “unlikely to be adequate, because it is not (and cannot be) informed by the mana whenua assessment of biophysical, spiritual, and relational effects, but it is capable of being complete to enable the application to be accepted for processing”.

“This is precisely what has happened here,” he said.

He also said he considered clause 4.3.7 of the Canterbury Regional Policy Statement which “explicitly applies on a case by case basis” and stated: “Seek a cultural impact assessment or cultural value assessment as part of an assessment of environmental effects … where an application is likely to impact on a significant resource management issue for Ngāi Tahu.”

However, Enright said: “It is not directive that the CIA must be prepared by mana whenua prior to acceptance as complete, in circumstances where a CIA cannot be reasonably obtained after appropriate steps have been taken by the applicant.”

SIRRL director Paul Taylor had earlier said section 6.17 of its resource consent application “meticulously identifies possible cultural value issues” and explained why none had material effect or relevance.

ECan consents planning manager Aurora Grant and WDC regulatory group manager Jonts McKerrow in a joint statement accepted the commissioner's decision and said they would now continue to process the application.

“We will work with our partners within Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu to ensure any concerns from the proposal are appropriately addressed,” they said.