Is PUBLIC CONSULTATION real, or just pretend.

The most outstanding feature of the Watercare water treatment plant proposal so far, is the lack of transparent good faith bargaining in the public consultation process:

• By the time Watercare released documents to the public that outlined the site selection process, they had already rejected approximately 80% of the potential sites they had initially identified.
• Moreover, it should also be noted that all the sites listed by Watercare for consideration sit outside the Waitakere Ranges catchment area.
• This is relevant as by refusing to consider potential sites within their catchment area, in turn, Watercare is forcing the environmental impact of such a large industrial complex into the back yards of local residents. 
• This presents a double standard with regards to the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act 2008, of which the over-arching objective is to protect against urbanisation and the proliferation of hard structures (urban intensification pressures), in order to maintain the area’s unique character.
• Historically, the Act has exerted intensive controls over local residents with regards to any personal building or development plans. However, these private complying projects are arguably insignificant when compared to Watercare’s current proposal which appears to have met little resistance from the carefully selected ‘stakeholders’ invited to participate in a pre-public deliberation process.

Effected and concerned Titirangi residents are not denying the need for an increase in water harvest capacity within the Waitakere Ranges catchment area. What they are challenging, is Watercare’s refusal to engage in a discussion on placing the new water treatment plant inside the Waitakere ranges catchment area and in a location with significantly less impact on local residents.
For local politicians and community representatives (some of whom are named as participants of Watercare's initial public stakeholders group), to now suggest they are restricted in their capacity to advocate the concerns of Titirangi/Waima residents, is illogical considering that many of these same people were pivotal in the long and hard-fought campaign to develop and implement the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act and the protections it provides.

The WestWards team is united in standing for the issues not the politics and we ask Watercare what issues are stopping placement of a water treatment plant inside the water catchment area where impact on local residents will be far less.