Treading water on plans

• Author: Laurilee McMichael This article was written by Laurilee McMichael before she finished working at the Taupo & Tūrangi Weekender on October 29.
• Published date: 04 November 2021
• Publication title: Taupo Weekender

Other areas without reticulated drinking water and wastewater currently include 20 properties at Motutere Point, about 300 properties at the eastern lakeshore settlements of Waitetoko, Te Rangiita, Oruatua, Tauranga-Taupō, and around 100 properties in Lower Motuoapa, which is the old town area on the northern side of State Highway 1.

The council had set aside $1.95 million in its 2021-2031 Long Term Plan to connect the historic private lakeshore village of Waihi to reticulated water.

It was also, while the water trench was being dug, going to take the opportunity to install a sewer main to allow the 36 homes in the village plus a marae and lodge, to have their sewage piped to the Tūrangi Wastewater Treatment Plant.

At present, homes in the village are connected to septic tanks, which is problematic given many of the tanks are ageing and the village is close to Lake Taupō.

A report tabled at the August Taupō District Council meeting said while septic tanks were usually adequate for public health purposes, they did not treat effluent to a high standard and did not cope well with shock loading, such as when the marae hosts a large number of visitors.

The council had been working with the village since it was approached by the Waihi Marae Trust in 2014 on a project to provide the village with safe, potable drinking water sourced from the Tūrangi water scheme, and the Ministry of Health also agreed to provide $471,000 from its Drinking Water Subsidy Scheme.

At the time, it was also proposed to connect Waihi to Tūrangi’s wastewater treatment plant as a common trench could be used for both the water and wastewater infrastructure, resulting in cost savings.

However, extending water and wastewater pipes into the village was fraught with difficulty, mainly because the road into the village is on top of landslip debris. About 150 people lost their lives as a result of the slips and it is likely that koiwi tangata, or human remains, lie buried underneath the road reserve corridor.

Given that, any pipe laying along Waihi Rd could be undertaken only in a culturally sensitive manner and with the full support of the village community.

While the villagers were initially in favour of the idea, in August, the Waihi Marae Trust made a late submission to the council saying the majority of hapū members of Ngāti Turumakina, Waihi Village, had voted not to...