Action plan to tackle Bromley odour issues

Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury have agreed on an action plan for reducing the smells from the Bromley-based organics processing plant and Metro Place transfer station.

The two Christchurch City Council-owned facilities were identified in a pilot study as contributing to the long-standing odour issues in the Bromley area.

“We are committed to minimising the smells from these two facilities and have been working closely with our contractors and Environment Canterbury on a plan for addressing the odour issues,” says Council Head of Three Waters and Waste Helen Beaumont.

Read the full action plan.

“Bromley residents have been telling us about the odour in their suburb for a very long time and they deserve fast action.”

Work on short-term operational changes at both facilities is already underway.

“Living Earth, which runs the organics processing plant, have begun trialling new misters and compost recipes while EcoCentral, which runs the transfer station, are moving product into containers as quickly as possible,” Ms Beaumont says.

“The contractors have also engaged independent experts to review the data that has been gathered and the onsite activities so that they can provide further recommendations on odour management. The plan is to have all the operational changes and investigations completed by the end of August.

“In collaboration with Environment Canterbury, we will then review how effective the short-term operational changes have been. If required, we will investigate medium to long-term redevelopment options, such as upgrading the tunnels at the organics processing plant or covering more of the site,” Ms Beaumont says.

Any redevelopment options will be put to the Council for consideration by the end of November.

Ms Beaumont says that during the roll-out of the operational changes, through to the end of August, it is important people in Bromley continue to give feedback on the odour – whether it is good or bad, strong or weak – via the Smelt-it mobile app.

“We appreciate all the feedback the community have provided to date and it would be really helpful if this could continue. The actions we have agreed to will hopefully reduce the odour problems, but it is possible that some may actually exacerbate the situation.

“If that is the case, then we need to know as soon as possible so we really encourage people to continue to use the app to report all odour in the Bromley area. It will allow us to track what works and what doesn’t,” Ms Beaumont says.