Titirangi area environmental and ratepayers’ groups say they’re delighted to see so many locals out on the street yesterday (Monday 5 June) protesting about the siting of Watercare’s treatment plant planned for the Manuka Road site in Titirangi.

The Titirangi Residents & Ratepayers Association (TRRA) says it’s hugely encouraging to know that the community cares so deeply about protecting native vegetation and species on this site.

The TRRA is working with the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society, Forest & Bird, and the Auckland Botanical Society to identify the areas on the site that need protection. This information can then assist negotiations with Watercare on the design for the plant to ensure that residents’ concerns are taken into account.

TRRA Chair Dr Mels Barton says the Association is confident that Watercare’s engineers are quite capable of designing a plant that protects these precious areas, and is again calling for an independent ecological survey of the entire site so that nothing is missed.

However, the TRRA says it’s deeply disappointed by the behaviour of a few individuals on social media whose abuse, personal attacks, threats and intimidation towards the group and its Chair is counterproductive and will lessen the impact and effect of their message. Dr Barton has worked constructively, collaboratively and positively in the community over the past 18 years for protection of the environment.

Dr Barton says the Association is willing to sit down with anyone who wants to work constructively towards environmental protection, but the TRRA will not engage with anyone who uses childish and bullying tactics in place of genuine communication.

She is urging the Waima community to use a planned public meeting to form a legal entity, such as an Incorporated Society, and elect a committee prepared to work in the long term and who can represent their views in a dignified and positive way.

“Then we’re happy to work with them”, she said. “There are already three Resident & Ratepayer groups in the Titirangi area (South Titirangi, Paturoa and Titirangi) which have been operating in various forms since the 1930s and we welcome another group to represent the Waima area. It’s well overdue.”

“We know this behaviour is not representative of the views of the majority of Waima and Manuka Road residents and wish to acknowledge those who have contacted us with messages of support.”

The Waituna Action Group has led conservation efforts in the Waima area for a decade now and have done a great job restoring the area. The Association urges locals to join this group and enable them to have an even greater impact. We hope those who care about the Waima environment will extend their energy to the many environmental problems affecting their own backyards. The whole of Titirangi is smothered in weeds, overrun by rats, possums and cats and we are watching kauri die in large numbers from rampant kauri dieback disease. The solutions to all these issues are in our own hands and we can all do our bit to deal with them on our own properties, which will benefit everyone as well as areas like Clark’s Bush, Waituna and the Waitakere Ranges. Working together is the solution and there are many small groups all over Titirangi doing just that who will be happy to help support your efforts (see below).

The TRRA recognises that a new water treatment plant is needed and have been open and honest about our view as an organisation that the right place for it to go was on the land designated for that purpose for the last 40 years in Titirangi. We make no apology for saying that people should not be losing their homes in Oratia in exchange for trees in Titirangi and we have every right to express our own view. Our view does not claim to represent the stated interests of Waima residents and we respect their right to express their own views. Our view is based on physical, historical and demographic facts about the potential impact of the plant on the environment and conservation, historical and cultural features and the community, based on the three shortlisted options presented and Watercare’s accountability as a CCO. We gave our view to Watercare in our submission three months ago on this matter, and called them to account in strong terms. To ask residents whether they agree with the facts adds nothing to the process.

There is of course a much wider debate that deserves an airing and that is the water strategy for Auckland and indeed the entire country. Water is going to become an ever more precious commodity as the climate changes and our population grows, and currently we waste all of the water we collect in our reservoirs by using it once and then discharging it direct to the Manukau Harbour via the Mangere Treatment Plant. There is no attempt to recover or recycle that water and reuse it as happens in many other countries. Water in London has been drunk and recycled 7 times by the time it reaches your tap. We could and should do so much better than we do. Reducing demand by having greywater recycling systems, rainwater tanks and water smart devices in our homes would mean that we don’t need to take any more water from the Waikato River or build new reservoirs as Auckland grows - or indeed build a new wastewater treatment plant or an interceptor costing a billion dollars to move stormwater from one part of the city to another. The Waikato environment needs that water for its own catchment and we should be using all the water we capture locally to reduce the demand on supply. The TRRA believes that Central Government should be placing standards in the building regulations that these things are installed in all new homes to reduce demand, prevent flooding and reduce pollution of our harbours. Auckland Council and Watercare should be offering incentives for homeowners to retrofit existing properties. We can all do this and should be demanding that it is made as easy for us as possible by the agencies responsible for providing these systems.

We all need and rightly demand clean water and a secure supply. No one can survive more than a few days without clean water and turning on a tap in our own homes is something we have all taken for granted over the last 50 years. We have seen in recent weeks how fragile that supply can be when unexpected events happen (silt in Ardmore treatment plant) so let’s start the conversation now about how we can all do our bit to ensure we have a more secure and less environmentally damaging supply in future as Auckland grows.

The TRRA will continue to work on behalf of our community, to collaborate with others to achieve our objectives of protecting the environment and enhancing the community in which we live. We encourage others to work with us and help us make our little piece of paradise, that we are all so fortunate to live in, even more special. We look forward to the Waima community electing its own representatives to work with us, as the other R&R groups in Titirangi do. Together we can achieve so much more for the benefit of all.

ENDS

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