Te Awamutu waste-to-energy plant decision will go to a board of inquiry

Monday, 26 August 2024

Global Contracting Solutions Limited wants to build and operate a waste-to-energy plant in Te Awamutu, in the Racecourse Road area.

A specially appointed board will decide if a $200m waste-to-energy plant should be built in Te Awamutu.

The proposal by Global Contracting Solutions (GCS) has proved contentious, and would involve incinerating up to 150,000 tonnes of rubbish a year at a purpose-built plant in Racecourse Rd. It would generate electricity from steam.

It prompted hundreds of submissions - most against the project - to Waipā District and Waikato Regional Councils.

Both councils asked the Minister for the Environment to call in the decision, effectively sending it up the chain. They’ve now been notified by letter that Minister Penny Simmonds agreed, and it’d be sent to a board of inquiry.

In releasing the decision, Simmonds said she considered the GCS application “a proposal of national significance”.

There’s been public concern or interest about the project, which involves technology that’s new to NZ, Minister for the Environment Penny Simmonds wrote.

“The matters have aroused widespread public concern or interest regarding its actual or likely effect on the environment and the matters involve or is likely to involve technology, processes or methods that are new to New Zealand and affect its environment,” the letter said.

Simmonds wrote that the decision was reached after considering views of the applicant and the relevant local authorities, the capacity of the local authority to process the matter, and the recommendations of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

A 40-page advice document submitted by the EPA to Simmonds earlier this year said the proposal “may affect or be relevant to any international obligations that New Zealand has to the global environment”.

The advice also stated the decision shouldn’t be made by local councils, and should be instead sent to a board of inquiry or the Environment Court.

Waipā District Council said Simmonds’ decision and the resulting board of inquiry process is the outcome both councils sought.

Simmonds directed the matter to be referred to a board of inquiry of three to five members, and must include appointee(s) nominated by the Waikato River Authority.

This was requested by Te Arataura Te Whakakitenga O Waikato chair Tukoroirangi Morgan.

“Referral to a BOI provides for appointment of decision makers that have a grounding in the River Settlements and River Settlements Act, to properly inform those decision making factors,” Morgan said earlier.

However, the company behind the plan, GCS, had earlier said it preferred to have the Environment Court decide.

Its submission also said a board of inquiry would also be appropriate “as the influence of publicity or activism is less likely to be a prominent factor in the decision making”.

The EPA said it was starting the planning and arrangements for a revised submission and hearings process.