One group ‘thrilled’, another ‘thoroughly disappointed’ with waste-to-energy plant ruling

While the company proposing to build a waste-to-energy plant near Glenavy is “thrilled” an independent commissioner found in favour of its objection, those opposing the plant have voiced their discontent.

South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL) announced plans for a $350 million waste incinerator in 2021, and in April 2022 purchased a 15-hectare piece of land in Glenavy for the plant, known as Project Kea.

The company successfully appealed a decision by Environment Canterbury and Waimate District Council to return its resource consent applications for the proposed plant for a second time due to “insufficient information” – in particular, a lack of a Cultural Impact Assessment (CIA).

When it lodged the appeal in January, SIRRL asked the objection be heard by an independent commissioner, with Rob Enright appointed. The hearing was held in April at ECan’s council chambers in Christchurch.

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Enright, “by a narrow margin”, found in favour of SIRRL, and directed the two councils accept the resource consent application as complete, in his report released on Friday.

SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the company was “thrilled with this decision” which would allow it to move through processing while it awaited aCIA from mana whenua.

“We look forward to receiving the CIA from mana whenua so that it may be considered as part of the consent evaluation process.”

Taylor said it was a “very important consent application” to help deal with the South Island’s “huge” waste problem, and they were encouraging the wider community to learn about, ask questions and have their say.

“We’re mindful that Project Kea could be Aotearoa’s first energy from waste plant, and SIRRL has reached out to the local community to provide online resources and public engagement forums for questions and discussion,” Taylor said.

“While we appreciate that not all people are supportive of the proposal, the fact remains that our country continues to face an increasing waste crisis.

“We are very pleased that the application can now proceed to public submission stage and is given due consideration by the councils’ own appointed experts.”

Why Waste Waimate (WWW), a group formed in opposition to the plant, spokesperson Robert Ireland said it was “thoroughly disappointed” with Enright’s decision.

“This decision means that a resource consent application will be processed without a site specific CIA, which is effectively removing mana whenua from the position of determining whether cultural values will be impacted,” Ireland said.

“This also means the application by SIRRL, which WWW believe was rushed to avoid RMA legislation changes which would require SIRRL’s application to account for greenhouse gas emissions, will now be subject to last century rules.

“This is totally unacceptable, when we are constantly seeing the effects of climate change like the recent weather events in the North Island.”

Ireland said the group would “continue to fight” against the proposal by submitting against the resource consent application in due course.

In February, Taylor said SIRRL’s resource consent application had “adequately covered off” greenhouse gas emissions and there was a “comprehensive expert report” on this in the application.

SIRRL originally lodged consent applications for the plant in September. After they were kicked back by both councils in October, due to “fundamental” information missing, the company resubmitted them in November, only to have them sent back again.

In a joint statment issued on Monday, ECan consents planning manager Aurora Grant and WDC regulatory group manager Jonts McKerrow accepted the commissioner’s decision and said they would now continue to process the application.