A long-running project to establish a wastewater system in the Bay of Plenty town of Matatā has made headway, but questions are being raised on why it's taking so long.

Suitable sites for the wastewater treatment plant and disposal field are still to be found.

The Matatā wastewater plans has made progress on some aspects, including environmental monitoring and a new tohu (emblem) to represent its iwi co-design group.

However, questions were raised at Whakatāne District Council’s infrastructure and planning committee meeting on Thursday (November 30) about the length of time the project was taking.

Councillor Andrew Iles asked whether the project was in jeopardy of failing.

“Are we looking at the possibility that we may have to go back to looking at the septic tanks? How many years have we been looking at this project now?

"As long as I’ve been on council. Hearing from this report today, we’re really no further ahead.”

Matatā does not have a reticulated wastewater system and residents are reliant on septic tanks.

The failure of septic tanks has created a public health risk and environmental contamination and the council has committed to finding a wastewater solution.

Councillor Gavin Dennis reminded the committee of the "huge ramifications” of not completing the project, which had been forced on the council by the Department of Health.

If nothing was done, there was a danger Bay of Plenty Regional Council could step in and remove as many as 60 homes from the Matatā township to protect the environment.

Policy, planning and consents manager Nicholas Woodley said work was progressing well, including the continued environmental monitoring of both surface water and groundwater.

The report stated that recent samples had indicated that bacterial contamination of shallow groundwater was much greater than the levels found in groundwater monitoring bores.

“Potentially this shows there is a layer of low permeability with effluent staying in the shallow groundwater and seeping overland.”

“It’s literally running down beside driveways and over the footpaths,” Mr Woodley said.

“The indicative result suggests that it is relatively high in pathogen contamination – much higher than in the national swimming guidelines.”

Conversations were "progressing well” with relevant landowners in relation to sites for the plant and disposal field, he said.

A site that was being tested for a possible disposal field had since been withdrawn by the landowners as it had a current lease, making it unavailable for some years.

“All of our work is well underway. We are forging on,” Mr Woodley assured the committee.

In answer to Mr Iles’ question, he said, while attempts to implement wastewater scheme at Matatā went back a number of years, the current iteration of the project had been underway for 19 months.

“There was a consent granted in 2013 which was overturned by the Environment Court. We need to be very careful to make sure that the approach we follow is a very robust process.”

Mayor Victor Luca said he was glad to hear more ground and surface water modeling was being done as he felt there were “quite a few holes in the understanding”.

Dr Luca has previously expressed interest in learning how much of the contamination came from farm livestock on the hills behind the town.

“I think people have got to be very cautious about building conclusions or plans until full technical analysis is done.

"Although the project has been talked about for a long time, the first real surface water pathogen results are dated November 2021.”

Meanwhile, the co-design group, Te Niaotanga ō Mataatua ō Te Arawa, which includes representatives from the council, Ngāti Awa hapū, Te Mana o Ngāti Rangitihi Trust and Ngāti Tūwharetoa (BOP) Settlement Trust, have had a tohu designed by Matatā resident Erin Tioke.

This was described in the report to the committee as an important milestone for the project.

“The intent was to weave historical and cultural narratives into the design to acknowledge whakapapa (geneaology), kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and manaakitanga (caring) of the whenua (land), wai (water) and hapori (community) of Matatā.”

The teardrop shaped tohu created by Matatā's Erin Tiake has been selected by Te Niaotanga ō Mataatua ō Te Arawa to represent the codesign group. Image Erin Tiake.

The report also recognised that the Matatā Wastewater Project played a key role in supporting the aspirations of the Tarawera Awa Restoration Strategy Group.

The co-governance forum, set up earlier this year as part of the Ngāti Rangitihi Treaty settlement, recently released its Tarawera Awa Aspirations Document - the first stage of its formation of a restoration strategy.

Partners in the group include representatives from Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Mākino Iwi Authority and Ngāti Tūwharetoa (BOP) Settlement Trust, for whom the river is of great ancestral significance. Other partners are Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Rotorua Lakes, Kawerau and Whakatāne district councils.

The document includes a call for action to stop the contaminants from land use activities being discharged into the river, including from septic tank failure in Matatā.

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