Phone 0800 800 401 for odour complaints. 24/7.
Councils allow these facilities to operate with dodgy resource consent. The intent of the said resource consents is valid but the facilities & councils soon change conditions to get around the many complaints usually on a non-notifying basis. Every complaint is potentially used against the complainant. Most, if not all residents around these facilities regard the councils as being there to protect them. This is DEFINITELY not the case. They are there for the applicant of the resource consents. The real problem lies with the councils who employ so many misguided and unqualified people to authority.
Councils try to write off these smells as rural but these are not rural smells. Usually with waste there are pests, rats, mouse etc, this brings all sorts of other things to this issue. We have noticed an increase in the rodent population.......coincidence maybe??
These facilities say they are spending huge amounts of dollars on their plants and if it fails are they prepared to abandon their projects......doubt it!
We agree with these facilities in principle but this is an issue that needs to be dealt with differently, not the way they have been operating. NOT when it causes many people in the surrounding area to be prisoners in their own homes due to poor air quality.
The rancid smells started. It was foul & disgusting stench. As we sit in our living room or deck the smell is strong & persuasive & enters every room in the house, we get angry. We want to know why we have to put up with the assault from Envirofert composting or Tuakau Proteins rendering operation. How can you allow 2 non-conforming resource consented facilities to ruin the lives of the people of Tuakau. The faceless authorities, the local councillors do nothing. Our quality of air is controlled by the so called 'experts' and the workers at these facilities. As they do not seem to have respect for their fellow human beings our air quality is polluted.
The abatement, infringement notices do nothing. These facilities continue to breach their resource consent conditions. SO obviously the only incentive is to cut the revenue stream by stopping all compost, clean?fill and rendering operations.
You don't have to remind me to fill out, email or phone in an odour complaint to the council as we do this on a regular basis but realise it can't be done every five minutes when the rancid smell chokes us. This isn't a single instance for these operators who make mistakes but an ongoing operation that couldn't care less about the quality of the people in the surrounding areas.
When will the people of Tuakau be able to enjoy their properties, to be able to sit outside and not want to retch?
Whatever right Envirofert & Tuakau Protein may have to operate their businesses, it cannot, indeed must not be at the expense of clean healthy air for the residents in this area. We too have rights to have clean air & enjoyment of our properties that we have worked damned hard to get.
It is well & good that Envirofert & Tuakau Proteins is looking for the most effective operations for the processing of their waste but at the same time essentially asking the residents of Tuakau & surrounding areas to subsidise this program by putting up with the daily stench which makes enjoyment of the outdoors virtually impossible, through effects on health, and no less important property values.
These facilities worldwide have always had odour & associated problems and the authorities have done no research other than signing off a report paid for by the applicant. Even though the current locations & technology is not working the councils keep changing, reviewing and issuing new resource consents.
Green waste has minimal smell but raw & cooked food waste has a noxious odour which unless a significant amount of money is spent on ENCLOSED vessels or sheds, not a building with ventilation, odours CANNOT be controlled. Composting food waste is manageable but does have more tendency to cause odours and attract rodents, especially if animal parts are involved. Trying to compost mixed garbage IS always a disaster!
Prevailing winds are from the south & west pushing odours over significant properties. Waikato councils like other government bodies involved in these 'green initiatives' did not consult with anyone in the area, did not review technology to ensure that it is effective and have completely ignored information.
We cannot & will not speak for the whole community but we can speak for our own family.
We are subjected to various degrees of odours and pollutants.
Throat infections, persistent coughs, sinus infections are some of the health issues we suffer.
These facilities are sited in the midst of farmland, residences, few kms away from primary school, so many people get exposed to this foul air.
For the councils to allow these facilities to operate, learning the pitfalls of rendering and composting at the discomfort of the community is WRONG!
Composting sites release odour, methane gases, carbon dioxide and attract vermin, seagulls, rats. 'Hot composting' have also at times been associated with pathogens such as e.coli.
