Candidates Share Views On Matatā's Wastewater Solution

Wednesday, 3 September 2025, 3:34 pm
Article: Diane McCarthy - Local Democracy Reporter

Support for Matatā's sewerage scheme was loud and clear at a Meet the Candidate event, organised by Matatā Residents’ Association, on Sunday.

However, Whakatāne mayoral candidate Philip Jacob’s statement that he would not support the Matatā sewerage scheme had many in the room gasping.

The Whakatāne council recently purchased land to build the sewerage scheme in the Bay of Plenty town.

“It does not appear to be a public health issue," Jacob said.

"I am not aware of any current evidence of significant human waste contamination in the lagoon.

"That issue aside, I cannot support the Matatā sewerage scheme on pure financial grounds."

He said Matatā couldn’t afford to pay for the scheme, and it was an unfair burden for the rest of the district to pay for it on the community's behalf.

The comment prompted a question from the floor as to which of the remaining five mayoral candidates did support the scheme.

Homes in Matatā are currently reliant on septic tanks, which have been blamed for high levels of E.coli in the soil due to the high water table and poor soil drainage.

A reticulated sewerage system has been on the town’s wish list for decades.

The questioner said she had attended a meeting in the rugby club some years ago where she was told by the Ministry of Health that unless Matatā got reticulated sewerage, there would be houses that would have to evacuate.

"I live in one of those houses," she said.

The Whakatāne district and Bay of Plenty Regional Council had subsequently worked out that it could be as many as 95 homes.

“If we are kicked out, will you be pushing to have us compensated and if the project goes ahead will the costs be spread district-wide, as we pay for many things in other areas?

“I see $14 million to do my sewerage as heaps less than approximately $70 million to boot us out of our houses.”

Resident's association member Rod Meharry who was MC for the event, said Matatā residents were very concerned about what the council would do about their sewerage.

“We asked three years ago and had a lot of promises. We asked three years before that and were told resource consent was just around the corner," he said.

Mayoral candidates Nandor Tanczos, Andrew Iles, Mark Ingram and Wilson James said they supported the Matatā wastewater scheme.

Mr Tanzos said he supported equalisation of the cost across the whole district. “I believe that as a district we have got to be in this together,” Mr Tanczos said.

Mr Iles agreed, adding that he felt the regional council should also be looking at sharing the costs of the project.

Mr Ingram said the council needed to advocate for it strongly in Wellington and get central government to help fund it.

Mr James said there were about 260 houses in Matatā and it should have happened a few years ago.

“We’re working with iwi, we’re working with hapū, and progress is being made. It’s slower than I would like but I would certainly be pushing for it to be completed.”

He also felt it should be paid for by the whole district. Mayor Victor Luca did not respond to the question, however, he mentions it in a report for the council’s infrastructure and planning committee on Thursday.

He states that all members of the Mayor’s Taskforce For Water agreed that contamination at the Matatā village was no longer serious since one property had had its wastewater system replaced.

The taskforce is a group of engineering experts who advise the council on water services.

They have reviewed monitoring of surface and groundwater, carried out by the council over two years.

The committee will also decide whether to endorse the Matata Wastewater Project moving to the next phase of consenting and development of a large-scale or moderate sized option.

A third option is to allow the area to become a regional council managed Maintenance Zone, which could result in some homes in the township being unable to meet regulatory requirements for wastewater disposal.

The current project has taken four years to reach this phase.

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