‘Left in limbo’ - Te Awamutu waits for waste plant decision
Monday, 29 September 2025
Six weeks after an application to build a waste to energy plant in Te Awamutu had been paused due to unpaid bills, residents say they have been left in limbo awaiting a result with other developments in the town stalled.
Te Awamutu property developer Eoin Fitzpatrick is chairperson of local action group Don’t Burn Waipā, which has opposed Global Contracting Solutions’ (GCS) controversial $200 million Paewira waste-to-energy incinerator project since it was first tabled in late 2021.
After a three-week Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) hearing ended in July, a decision on the plant’s fate was due late August, however, that decision was paused by EPA chief executive Dr Allan Freeth on August 14 due to the non-payment of costs owed to the EPA by GCS.
In a series of emails between himself and Taranaki-King Country MP Barbara Kuriger, Fitzpatrick says the delay “has really knocked confidence in the construction sector in Te Awamutu”.
“We and other business owners, developers, builders, investors, [and] home owners have either cancelled or delayed projects due to this incinerator, and we really need this application rejected before confidence and associated investment has any chance of returning.”
Kuriger responds by saying “I would not want it placed next to my home if I was living on the streets close by”, and that changes to Resource Management Act legislation “won’t come fast enough”.
“I believe that there is potential in waste to energy but that plants need to be situated away from residential streets.
“Locations need to be carefully chosen in consideration of local communities,” Kuriger said.
The EPA recently confirmed it had not received payment, and no further updates were available.
“We acknowledge this has been a lengthy process and that the outcome of this application is of significant importance to you and your community,” an EPA spokesperson said.
“The application will remain on suspension until full payment of the outstanding costs has been received.
“Once full payment of all outstanding costs has been received, the EPA will notify all parties and resume processing the application.”
“I've got friends that live next door to this proposed plant and it's literally sucking the life out of them,” Fitzpatrick told the Waikato Times.
“I'm not investing any more money at the moment in our developments … and it's causing stress in people’s lives because no one knows whether it's going to continue or otherwise.”
Attempts to contact GCS director Craig Tuhoro have been unsuccessful, however, GCS project director Adam Fletcher recently told The Cambridge News that application costs had doubled one month before the EPA’s hearing and the company was working with the EPA to settle the matter.
The EPA has not revealed how much is owed to it by GCS, and the company is also in dispute over fees with the Waikato Regional Council and the Waipā District Council.
In March, GCS made an official objection to paying $52,854 of a $101,811 fee charged by the Waipā District Council for consent applications.
The council said $40,665 of that bill remains outstanding.
GCS also objected to the payment of $63,296 worth of costs to the regional council which were incurred prior to the hearings being held.
Waipā District mayor Susan O’Regan said locals needed certainty, but it was a situation which was out of council’s control.
“How long is it going to take is sort of like asking how long is a piece of string.
“I'm getting a lot of feedback around people just wanting certainty - certainty to buy that house, certainty to invest in that business, or put my business on the market, to retire - all of these big life decisions.
“That's tough, not knowing what the future might hold, and what that application's impact could be,” she said.