Businesses and property developers fear a $300 million project to upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and pipe network in Auckland's Warkworth could cost the rapidly-growing region dearly.
Around 6000 people currently call Warkworth home — however tens of thousands of people are expected to move to the town in Auckland's north and some housing developments can not be lived in yet because the current wastewater treatment plant is near capacity.
New housing developments are still being granted resource consents, however no new wastewater connections could be made until the new treatment facility was ready, which meant houses could not yet be lived in.
Housing developer Classic Group's director Peter Cooney said they were prepared for the growth, but described the red tape as "just insane". as progress stalled.
He bought 40ha of land on Warkworth's outskirts two years ago and was in the process of lodging for resource consent.
"At the time, we spoke to Watercare and, at the time, they told us they had sufficient capacity," he said. "But now they've come back and advised us there is no capacity."
In a statement, an Auckland Council spokesperson said it "still has the ability to approve applications for development but with a condition that development cannot commence until there is an approved connection to Watercare wastewater infrastructure."
Watercare Chief Strategy and Planning Officer Priyan Perera said they were working closely with developers to ensure they do not disrupt their delivery programmes.
"What we are saying is that we just hold back on some future connections until the new plant is up and running," he said.
The new plant being built in nearby Snells Beach would have the capacity to treat wastewater for around 18,000 people, but had also faced some delays.
"We had Covid disrupt us during the project and its delivery and we've also had some construction condition issues over time," Perera said.
Watercare said the facility will be ready by the end of 2025, but it would not service all of Warkworth.
A new growth pipeline still needed to be built to service areas north of the Mahurangi River and was still in the planning phase, but could be tunnelled through Warkworth's main street.
"If they go ahead with this, this will kill Warkworth," said One Mahurangi Business Association manager Murray Chapman. "It will absolutely decimate our town.
He said residents and businesses have taken a petition with 3000 signatures to Watercare, calling for the pipe to be installed elsewhere to limit disruption.
"Unfortunately there's no perfect solution," said Perera. "The environment... and ensuring that what we produce will be sustainable in the long term are also key considerations in our selection process."
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