16 August 2021
File Ref: 2021-212
Brian Warburton
By email:
[FYI request #16216 email]
Dear Mr Warburton
Request for information 2021-212
I refer to your request for information to Porirua City Council dated 27 July 2021, which was in part
transferred to Greater Wellington Regional Council (Greater Wellington) on 29 July 2021. You have
requested the following:
“
In respect of recent failure of the wastewater (WW) main south of Paremata and the diversion of
wastewater flow to a redundant WW main on the western side of Porirua Harbour at Whitireia and
Onepoto, please provide me with the following information.
- details of the work undertaken by WWL and/or PCC;
- a copy of the current consents under the RMA (if any) that PCC/WWL has relied upon for: the
infrastructure; the work undertaken on it; and, the discharges from it, in respect of:
- the use of land in terms of section 9 of the RMA
- the use of land in terms of section 13 of the RMA
- restrictions imposed under section 12 of the RMA
- restrictions imposed under section 15 of the RMA .
- a copy of all correspondence within, and between, PCC/WWL about the lawfulness or otherwise
of: the specifically in terms of:
- the WW main as a structure;
- the recent work undertaken on it; and,
- the recent discharges from it.”
Wellington office
Upper Hutt
Masterton office
0800 496 734
PO Box 11646
PO Box 40847
PO Box 41
www.gw.govt.nz
Manners St, Wellington 6142
1056 Fergusson Drive
Masterton 5840
[email address]
Greater Wellington responds as follows to the highlighted part of the above request. Please note
Porirua City Council will respond separately to the remaining aspects of the information request as
follows:
The request for a copy of the current consents under the RMA (if any) that PCC/WWL has relied upon
has been refused under section 17 (e) the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act
1987 (the Act) on the grounds that the document does not exist.
Correspondence regarding wastewater discharges into Porirua Harbour on 18-Jul-2021 (and the
events before and after) has been withheld under section 6(a) as the release of this information
would prejudice the maintenance of law (there is no Public Interest test for section 6).
Please note these wastewater discharges are the subject of an investigation, under the Resource
Management Act, by Greater Wellington officers. This investigation is in its early stages and we
cannot discuss the specifics of what occurred or what the outcomes will be. All documents and
correspondence relating to these events which are not already in the public domain may constitute
evidence in this investigation; release of this information may prejudice this investigation.
If you have any concerns with the decision(s) referred to in this letter, you have the right to request
an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Yours sincerely
Al Cross
General Manager, Environment Group
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