Avery admits spending "around $700,000" on illegal sewage wall that 'did not work'
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After months of pressure from Crux the Queenstown Lakes District Council has admitted today that their Infrastructure General Manager, Tony Avery, spent "around $700,000" of ratepayer money on an illegal sewage wall that has not worked and is collapsing.
The expenditure and lack of resource consent has been denied by the QLDC for months.
Crux understands there was no specific budget for the work and plant operator Veolia has refused to detail their procurement process for the work.
This was Mr Avery's answer today (provided via the QLDC PR/Marketing group) to our question as to why he approved a non-consented structure, the sewage wall, without informing the regulator the Otago Regional Council or informing elected councillors and how much money was spent.
"I approved the need for taking urgent action to try and address the non-compliance of the disposal field to try and reduce its impact. That work needed to be undertaken with haste but ultimately has proven to not have addressed the underlying issue of the disposal field failure. The cost of the wall was around $700k."
Crux also asked tow further questions of Mr Avery: Here's the questions and answers.
Does QLDC agree that action to resolve issues at the disposal field could have been better managed - faster and more strategically?
Avery: No. This was an unfolding issue that took time to understand and to manage. The current proposed action reflects the knowledge that has been gained as the team have tried to manage it.
Do you agree that effluent chemical readings in the disposal field have exceeded consent limits on many occasions in the past year?
Avery: Please provide further information on the incidents you are referring to so that we can respond accurately.
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