Wanganui District Council says if it had spent $25 million instead of $15 million on a wastewater treatment plant in 2007 the city would not be suffering from bad air problems now.
On Monday, the council agreed on a remedy to fix the problem at a cost of about $24 million.
The wastewater treatment plant was built in 2007 and the council is spending $100,000 a month to deoderise the stench.
Mayor Annette Main said the council hopes the Government will agree to contribute to the cost of fixing the plant, but ratepayers will end up paying most of the bill.
