NCC lays charges against Napier company for bylaw breach

Published: 14 October 2020

Napier City Council has filed a charge in the Napier District Court against a local company, alleging a breach of the Council’s Stormwater Bylaw 2020.

The company, which owns and operates an industrial site in the Pandora Industrial Zone, allegedly allowed an unlawful discharge into the Council stormwater network in breach of the Stormwater Bylaw, on 19 March 2020.

The alleged discharge was discovered while Council’s Environmental Solutions team were conducting a survey of outfall pipes in the area.

The waterway into which the discharge is alleged to have occurred drains into Te Whanganui a Orotū (the Ahuriri Estuary).

The Stormwater Bylaw, which came into force in February this year after extensive public consultation,  aims to protect the city’s urban waterways, stormwater reticulation system, Te Whanganui-a-Orotū and the coastal environment. It is a key tool to help Council comply with the conditions of its stormwater discharge permit, issued by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. These types of consents have conditions aimed at protecting the environment, and more conditions are expected to be added over the next decade.

The Bylaw contains controls to avoid anything other than stormwater getting into the Council’s stormwater pipes and urban waterways.

This is believed to be the first time the Council has prosecuted any individual or organisation under the new Stormwater Bylaw. If convicted, the company could be liable for a fine of up to $20,000.

A court date is yet to be set.

For more information about the Stormwater Bylaw 2020, go to our bylaws. 

For more information about the joint regional and city councils’ stormwater compaign to improve stormwater quality, keyword search #cleanwaterways.

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