Monitoring of septic tanks in urban area

PUBLIC notification of regulation changes that will see compulsory monitoring of septic tanks in urban areas has been launched by Gisborne District Council.
The changes will focus on urban areas such as Wainui-Okitu and Makaraka, and rural townships where there are higher densities of septic tanks.
It is estimated there are 2181 septic tanks in urban settlements — part of the 33 percent of the district that relies on tanks.
The council has been told the majority of the septic tanks in the district, 80 percent, were installed before April, 2002 and that maintenance of these tanks is important for them to work properly.
Staff have recommended that mandatory maintenance be done on tanks in urban areas but not tanks in remote rural areas.
Natural resources team leader Yvette Kinsella said the first public notification was the start of the submission period.
However, the period between Christmas and New Year did not count as working days under the Resource Management Act, so the time in which people could respond to the council’s proposal would not officially begin until January 10.
A second public notice will be published on January 21 and a summary of the proposed changes will be posted out to affected people at about the same time.