West Coast stench: 'Keep your windows closed'

5:53 pm on 6 July 2018

West Coast residents say they are tired of feeling trapped in their own homes due to the strong smell from the oxidation ponds and they want the problem fixed.

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Photo: 123RF

Soaring visitor numbers and effluent discharge are putting pressure on the ponds, causing an overwhelming stench for locals living in Hokitika and Franz Josef.

Barry Pearson lives near the Hokitika pond.

He said on a windy day the smell was so bad, he couldn't go outside.

"It's so bad you can't hang out any washing, and you would have to keep your windows closed.

"Visitors would turn up, they didn't like the smell, so they would disappear," he said.

"I didn't blame them, I would've liked to have gone with them."

Westland's District Mayor Bruce Smith said on a busy day 5000 visitors passed through Hokitika and the sewerage system struggled to handle the volume.

Mr Smith said the council was working on a number of solutions including stopping extra stormwater flooding into the sewerage pipes.

"We've got storm water from around the Hokitika district sliding into their sewerage pipes, which then floods into the ponds and reduce their effectiveness.

"We're going to reconfigure the ponds so that they operate in series as opposed to parallel."

Mr Smith said he hoped that the projects with the biggest impact would be completed within a year.