8 October 2018
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Water bottling at Hamurana Springs
Inquiry
I am writing a story today confirming a consent has been granted for water bottling at Hamurana Springs.
- Does Rotorua Lakes Council agree with local waterways being used for water bottling?
- What could this mean for the agreement with the council to have access to water through till 2026?
- Has there been any consultation with the local community?
Response
From Infrastructure General Manager Stavros Michael:
As advised by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council the proposed activity is downstream from where Rotorua Lakes Council sources its water for Hamurana and we are not aware of any impacts it would have on the current Resource Consent held with the regional council.
*Please note this is just information for you and not to be used as quotes or a statement.
Information re consultation and the activity itself will need to be sourced via the Bay of Plenty Regional Council as they manage waterways and process consents for water takes.
Response provided by Bay of Plenty Regional Council:
We received an application from the Te Tahuhu O Tawakeheimoa Trust to take water for bottling from Hamurana Stream on 13 December 2017. A resource consent was granted on 28 September 2018 and this will expire on 30 September 2033.
The Regional Council is not bottling water.
The resource consent process is set by the Resource Management Act and is detailed here. Pending environmental effects, applications are either non-notified, limited notified or notified. In this case there is one existing water permit granted to Rotorua Lakes Council that is upstream of the proposed take. Therefore because the proposed activity is downstream of this take, considered to have less than minor adverse environmental effects and there are no adversely affected parties it was non-notified.
The Resource Management Act looks at environmental effects, not how a business proposal is structured.
The total quantity of surface water taken shall not exceed 864 cubic metres per day or 315,360 cubic metres in any 12 month period.
