Introducing: D’Arcy Quinn

 

Hello Mangawhai residents. My name is D’Arcy Quinn and I have accepted the role of Chairman of the Mangawhai Community Waste Water Scheme (MCWWS) Advisory Panel. The Panel is fortunate to have attracted a group with a wide range of experience, knowledge and skills to apply to this task.

Along with the other five members of the Panel, we have met twice as a group and the focus has been to familiarise ourselves with the factual history and performance capability of the Scheme from the reticulation, the treatment plant and disposal, as our terms of reference apply.

The Panel acknowledges some parts of the Scheme have been well done, but there is also some history that is less than ideal. However the Scheme is in place, it’s working and we can’t send it back. We need to accept it for what it is and make the most of it. Our focus is the future and what is the best community direction to take for our embedded community asset.

The Council has set up a web page with access to a number of historical documents for interested members of the public to access. There is also a blog for feedback and to ask questions that will be answered. For more information go to kaipara.govt.nz and click on the first blue button.

It is pleasing to note that the Panel members advise they are already being asked questions by interested members of the community. So to answer the main questions so far for a wider audience:

* The treatment plant works well and has plenty of capacity, even at peak flow over the Christmas New Year period, which the graph below shows.

* There are currently just under 1700 connections and the plant can handle significant additional connections. The challenge is managing peak flows over summer.

* The farm area currently used for disposal has less capacity than the plant but the irrigation on the farm can be extended.

* The current reticulation is working well. There is still some capacity but extensions are needed if future properties are to be connected.

The Panel members will all be receiving quite a pile of technical information outlining future options prior to Christmas to be read and understood before our next meeting in early January.

Also at the January meeting, we expect to schedule public meeting days in February/March for the presentation of information to Mangawhai residents and also to listen to submissions from interested parties. These dates will be published on our web page and also advertised in the Focus.

FUTURE FOCUS: New MCWWS advisory panel chair D’Arcy Quinn.
WORKING WELL: The Mangawhai waste water plant is working well and managing peak flows.

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