Fonterra has been awarded the required consents to build a new wastewater treatment plant at its Hautapu plant.
Fonterra has been granted the necessary consents to construct a wastewater treatment plant adjacent to its factory at Hautapu in Waikato and to keep discharging that water across nearby farmland it owns.
The decision came after a public hearing late last year when local residents objected to the factory plan.
The co-operative wants to renew its ability to irrigate wastewater from its Hautapu factory onto farmland it owns and to build an $83 million wastewater treatment plant adjacent to the site. Six consents were granted, allowing it to do that.
At peak, the site processed around 4 million litres of milk a day, and food hygiene requirements meant a significant volume of wastewater was created.
The factory discharged treated wastewater onto its Buxton, Bardowie and Bruntwood farms from November-April and discharged into the Waikato River during the wetter winter months from May-October.
Fonterra operates those farms as a cut-and-carry operation where the pasture is cut and that feed is taken to other farms throughout Waikato. The new consents will allow these to continue.
It will also manage any odour issues from the new plant using emissions control technology, including the potential use of biofilters.
A Fonterra spokesperson said the hearing panel’s decision aligned closely with Fonterra’s application with no material or fundamental differences from what was proposed when the consents were filed.
“During the course of the hearing, all proposed conditions were consistently reviewed and some adjustments and agreements were made between participating parties on these to help with clarity and consistency,” the spokesperson said.
Construction on the new $83 million wastewater treatment plant will begin in September next year, Fonterra Hautapu site operations manager Jonathan Bouda said.
“Over the next 18 months we will be working on finalising our plans,” Bouda said.
It will be commissioned in 2025 and operational by 2026.
He said nutrient loading from the factor onto the farms will be reduced under the new consent conditions.
“That’s the primary driver for our need to build the wastewater treatment plant because we want to improve our environmental outcomes as well,” he said.
Local Hautapu residents opposing the consent condemned the decision.
Residents spokesperson Grant Eynon said it is unbelievable Fonterra had so little regard for the community.
Fonterra had options to site the plant away from extremely close neighbours, but instead ignored their own initial advice and its community for the easy consenting option.
The unlimited resources Fonterra has at their disposal have persuaded the commissioners to back them.
Fonterra can expect to have very vocal and public opposition to any problems that arise, he said.
“The community strongly believes Fonterra needs to reassess their future production location strategy with the growth of residential and businesses on their boundary. Although the factory has been there for many years, the surrounding area has changed significantly, with council planning support,” Eynon said.
While the community disagrees with the commissioners’ findings, they are not able to launch an appeal in the Environment Court, he said.
