If it's not the stench of the fire-damaged wastewater treatment plant keeping east Christchurch residents awake at night, it's the odour from the organics processing plant, and residents have had enough.
The lingering odour of rotting rubbish is enough to make anyone gag, and for Bromley residents living adjacent to the city's organics processing plant that is what they're faced with, especially when the easterly blows.
"Living with it continuously is just not good enough, we want the council to sit up and take notice of us," resident Vickie Walker said.
The processing plant began operating more than a decade ago, owned by the Christchurch City Council and run by Living Earth to deliver rich nutrient compost to local farmers and gardeners.
"We feel like we're in a third world country and we're not being listened to, we matter, our air matters," Walker said.
And to make matters worse, eastern residents are also struggling with the putrid smell of the city's sewage, while the fire-damaged wastewater treatment plant operates without a roof.
"It's affecting our health, it's not just our physical, it's our mental, not being able to enjoy our homes and live."
Bank Peninsula MP Tracey McLellan has run a petition on the issue.
"This plant should not be in a residential area and what we're asking council to do, is move it," McLellan told Newshub.
A recent council report has recommended moving the plant which could take between three to six years to do.
Christchurch city councillor Yani Johanson believes the problem also lies with the Resource Management Act.
"It's far too easy for these operations to get consent and the risks are transferred onto the local community rather the people that stand to benefit from the activities."
Environment Canterbury said in a statement that Christchurch City Council and Living Earth have taken significant steps to reduce the risk of offensive odour from the plant.
Christchurch city councillors will meet tomorrow to decide whether to agree in principle to relocate the processing plant.
