Upper Hutt City Councillor Angela McLeod backs Greater Wellington Regional Councillor Paul Swain’s call to review the water consent granted to a water bottling business in Upper Hutt.
“Greater Wellington Regional Council administers resource consents for extracting water from the aquifer in the region and our community has no appetite for consents being granted where copious amounts of water are extracted for export,” says Mrs McLeod.
“It’s 2019, there’s a climate change crisis, our river and her tributaries are suffering and there’s a consent to extract nearly 180,000,000 litres a year from the aquifer – it’s just not right.
“GWRC need carry out a review, checking that iwi and the local community were consulted as well as the effects of climate change on the aquifer.
“In fact, I believe they should review all of the resource consents granted to extract water from Upper Hutt’s groundwater, to check whether allocation is too much, given the impact on water quality, recreation values, environmental impacts and any economic benefits to our local community.
“Water extraction that over-burdens the river and aquifer system is among the most serious environmental issues of our time and we all need to take care of our living water systems for future generations as well as our current and future prosperity.
“It is not acceptable that GWRC are only charging approximately $350 per year for this consent.
“We need to value our water, and at the very least its economic value, but we are hamstrung as a community because there is no avenue for us to manage the consent, or charge, for example, a royalty per litre extracted and exported.
“It’s time for a change and I am looking forward to this review, support from the Government and more protections for our water,” says Mrs McLeod.