Ashburton locals want water consent 'thrown away'

Lot 9 in the Ashburton Business Estate (Newshub.)
Lot 9 in the Ashburton Business Estate (Newshub.)

Ashburton locals have threatened to take their campaign to stop consent for a water-bottling plant in the town to the High Court.

Around 50 people turned up to a public meeting Tuesday night relating to an existing consent for extracting water on 10 hectares of land which is part of the Ashburton Business Estate.

Bung the Bore campaign leader Jen Branje says the consent needs to be stopped before the bore goes down and the work starts to divert the stockwater race.

The consent allows more than 1.4 billion litres of water to be extracted annually from Lot 9, with just under 4000 cubic metres taken per day. The council was granted this consent from Environment Canterbury (ECan) in 2011 and it runs for 35 years.

The water comes from aquifers -- an underground layer of rock saturated in water which can be brought to the surface through pumps. The consent requires all water taken at an allowed rate of 45m3/sec but needs to be replaced at 60m3/sec, meaning more water is put back into the aquifer. The targeted aquifer is expected to be around 150-200 metres below ground water.

Ms Branje says the purpose of the meeting was to explain how the recharge system will work and how much it'll cost the ratepayer for the next 30 years to supply to the buyer of Lot 9.

The campaigners will present their case to the council and formally ask them to abandon the consent. Ms Branje says if the council refuses, they have a plan B -- to take legal action against ECan and ask for a judicial review of the consent itself in the High Court which is estimated to cost around $90,000.

Ms Branje says they would have to crowdfund to cover the legal costs, but didn't think it would be too much of a stretch because of the interest and support from within New Zealand.

She says one of New Zealand's top environmental barristers is advising them and says they've got a "better than good chance".

"We're asking them to tear it up and throw it away, to totally abandon that extraction and let the land be sold on its own," Ms Branje says.

The Ashburton District Council was unable to be reached for comment.

Newshub.