ECan joins Waimate Council in requesting Government to take over waste-to-energy plant proposal

Thursday, 22 June 2023

A screen grab of a computer concept photograph from a resource application for the proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant near Glenavy in South Canterbury.

Environment Canterbury will join Waimate District Council in asking the Minister for the Environment to take over the resource consent process for a controversial waste-to-energy plant proposed for the district.

South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) plans to build the $350 million plant, known as Project Kea, on a 15-hectare piece of land in Glenavy.

If Minister David Parker agrees to take over the process, Project Kea’s applications will be determined by either a board of inquiry or the Environment Court, instead of the regional or district council.

ECan councillors’ decision comes a day after Waimate councillors unanimously agreed to request the minister to “call-in” the applications.

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

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If the application is “called in”, appeal rights from the final decision by either the Environment Court or a board of enquiry, are also limited to appeals to the High Court on questions of law only.

ECan will join Waimate District Council in asking the Minister for the Environment to take over the resource consent process for SIRRL’s proposed waste-to-energy plant.

Before “calling in” an application, the minister will consider several criteria and also any advice provided by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in deciding whether a matter is, or is part of, a proposal of “national significance” before

The minister will also be required to consider the views of the applicant and local authority, the capacity of the local authority, and recommendations of the EPA when making the decision to “call in” the applications.

An update on ECan’s website on Wednesday said councillors have agreed to send a request to the Minister for the Environment to ‘call in’ the resource consent applications.

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

“We believe this consent application meets this threshold as it has provoked widespread interest and is likely to involve technology, processes or methods that are new to New Zealand,” the update read.

WDC, on Tuesday, approved recommendations in a report by its planner Emma Bush for a letter to be sent from Mayor Craig Rowley to the minister requesting him to take over the process and to send the letter on a joint basis with ECan, if ECan makes the same decision as them.

Bush, in her report, said, “staff consider that the Project Kea application is likely to meet several of the criteria for national significance … and therefore there is a reasonable basis on which to make a request (and a reasonable prospect of success)”.

The project is already on hold until October as SIRRL work on getting a water permit for the plant after which a public hearing can take place.

SIRRL counsel Mark Christensen, in a letter to Waimate District Council and Environment Canterbury on Monday, said the request to the minister “is tantamount to an admission that the councils have neither the capability nor the capacity to address the relevant issues in the normal way.”

“… none of the matters on which the [councils] officers rely for their recommendations meet the requisite standard to be worthy of a call-in.

“…there is nothing special about this application which takes it outside the usual environmental effects that your councils normally consider.

“Most importantly, a call-in would make it more difficult for local people and council ratepayers to have their say and feel involved in the consenting process.

“Call-in would remove decision-making from the local level with outcomes now being imposed from Wellington.”

He said if both the district and regional councils agreed to make the request to the minister and the minister agreed to the take over the applications, SIRRL would remain committed to working with the community, iwi, and officials going forward.