Residents vow legal action on sewerage | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Devastated residents are vowing to mire Masterton District Council in legal muck for years after councillors rubber-stamped a $24 million sewerage upgrade.

Councillors voted six in favour and three against a scheme that will see part of Masterton's treated sewage dumped on land by border strip irrigation instead of into the Ruamahanga River.

The decision is a slap in the face to iwi, Sustainable Wairarapa, Fish and Game, and neighbours of the site who pleaded with the council last week to irrigate the waste through centre-pivots instead of border strips.

Ellen Martin, a neighbour closest to the sewerage scheme, said the value of her property had plummeted and would drop further due to the decision.

The neighbours are furious over a rule that pushes any new buildings on their property 300m back from the proposed treatment site.

"We are all devastated. What's next for the neighbours?

"We are going to sue the council or take them to the High Court."

The council has defended the belief centre-pivots would tack years on to the project and has asked to meet the neighbours before they begin their legal challenge.

Ms Martin said the council would face years of delays anyway once the neighbours began proceedings.

Max Bradford, a former Minister of the Crown and Homebush neighbour, warned councillors before they made their decision they had sought the best legal advice the neighbours could afford.

The council has resource consent from Greater Wellington Regional Council for a border strip scheme and councillors believe it could take years to get new resource consent for a centre-pivot scheme.

Councillor Chris Peterson voted for border dykes and said the difference in cost and the amount that would still be discharged in the river compared with centre-pivots was negligible.

"I'm a committed environmentalist and I don't think I'm compromising my values at all."