The findings of a joint review that looked into circumstances leading to the suspension of new connections to the Martinborough Wastewater Treatment Plant was presented to Council yesterday.

The joint review, completed by South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC) and Wellington Water (WWL), was requested after applications for new wastewater connections to Martinborough were suspended in May 2023, when the plant failed to meet performance and compliance standards, and reached capacity limits.

One of the factors leading to this was a lack of a shared understanding between SWDC and WWL on the level of compliance and capacity at the plant. The review was setup to look into how this occurred and to prevent this happening again. The review looked into events and communications between the two entities, helping create a timeline of key activities. The report recommends that council adopt new processes that will improve the shared understanding of the treatment plant’s capacity and compliance, many of which are already underway or in progress.

The report is available to view here.