But frustration bubbled just below the surface, especially from councillors who felt the council should have gone further. There was also an odd, two-day interplay between Mayor Phil Mauger, who claimed he was being painted as a \u201cbastard\u201d, and his key ally, Waimairi councillor Sam MacDonald, who apologised for having \u201cinadvertently pitted the mayor against the organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n
A fire at the wastewater treatment plant in 2021, which destroyed two trickling filters, caused a constant strong stench. Council inaction left many in the community feeling forgotten and abandoned. A damning report confirmed the council\u2019s response was inadequate, and successive mayors have apologised.<\/p>\n
The smell subsided somewhat but came back, with a vengeance, over summer, thanks to an oxygen-depleting build-up of sludge. The pong permeated across the city, sparking thousands of complaints \u2013 and another apology from Mauger at a tense public meeting.<\/p>\n
On February 27, ECan, the environmental regulator, issued the council with an abatement notice for \u201cfailing to provide an adequate action plan\u201d.<\/p>\n
A temporary solution to the stench needed to be found, ahead of a $140m new activated sludge reactor becoming operational in 2028.<\/p>\n
The following week, on March 2, Mauger announced staff were investigating whether partially treated wastewater could be diverted from the ponds and straight out to sea, through the existing ocean outfall pipe. The plan, designed to reduce the pong, \u201csurprised and concerned\u201d ECan.<\/p>\n
It was only this week that the effect of the mayor\u2019s ocean outfall diversion became clear.<\/p>\n
A full diversion through the ocean outfall was effectively ruled out by council staff, who said it was too expensive, too risky, and wasn\u2019t supported by mana whenua. Even a partial diversion was pooh-poohed, with staff favouring the most cost-effective option of adding 16 aerators to the existing 11.<\/p>\n
(Aerators pump air into wastewater to promote the growth of microbes, which feed on organic matter.)<\/p>\n
This was called the 95 percent option, which, modelling said, would cope with loads of biological oxygen demand 95 percent of the time, with only three estimated days of \u201coffensive and objectionable odour\u201d.<\/p>\n
The more costly option, \u201c99 percent\u201d, involving 21 extra aerators, would make a stench unlikely on \u201cany days\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018I just generally wandered around, talked to enough people until someone listened to me.\u2019<\/p>\n
Phil Mauger, Christchurch mayor, on asking council staff to explore an idea to divert partially treated wastewater out to sea<\/p>\n
At Wednesday\u2019s workshop, it was revealed council staff had engaged consultants to consider the stench issue in January, and had enough budget to buy more aerators without troubling councillors for a decision.<\/p>\n
Gavin Hutchison, the council\u2019s head of three waters, said: \u201cWe would have liked to go out and purchase the aerators a month ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacDonald, the Waimairi councillor, demanded to know why that didn\u2019t happen. He appeared to have forgotten about the mayor\u2019s intervention.<\/p>\n
(On March 3, The Press newspaper\u2019s front page story was headlined: \u2018Concern over plan to pump wastewater into ocean\u2019. The online version was recast to: \u2018ECan \u2018surprised and concerned\u2019 about mayor\u2019s plan to pump partially treated wastewater into the sea\u2019)<\/p>\n
Diplomatically, chief executive Mary Richardson said the council team had been working on a solution but were then asked to explore other options.<\/p>\n
MacDonald continued to ask why the decision wasn\u2019t made, and wondered what he was missing.<\/p>\n
A councillor was seen to mouth the words \u201cFor f**k\u2019s sake\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260329-wastewater-christchurch-aerator-bromley-stench.jpg\")
The Christchurch treatment plant processes wastewater from Christchurch and over the hill in Whakaraup\u014d\/Lyttelton Harbour. Photo: David Williams<\/p>\n
Coastal councillor Celeste Donovan pointedly asked if the reason staff were bringing a paper to councillors was because of the suggestion of an ocean outfall pipe. <\/p>\n
When Hutchison repeated that staff could have decided more aerators under existing budgets, as an operational decision, it was too much for Mauger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see what you are doing,\u201d he told Donovan, adding \u201cI can see people painting a wee picture of \u2018Phil\u2019s a bastard\u2019 here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Somehow, the mayor was the victim. He said he\u2019d been in the gun, getting pressure \u201cfrom every direction\u201d. When he discussed the ocean outfall idea with staff no one said the aerators were \u201con their way\u201d.<\/p>\n
Cue another Press headline. This one, on Thursday: \u2018Mayor says people are painting him as a \u2018bastard\u2019 after his wastewater plan delayed work to fix stench\u2019.<\/p>\n
During Thursday\u2019s debate, MacDonald apologised to Mauger. \u201cI inadvertently pitted the mayor against the organisation. I think that was poor form on my part. I didn\u2019t do it intentionally, and I felt terrible about it last night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jumped the fence, did his homework<\/p>\n
After the meeting ended, Newsroom asked Mauger about the genesis of the ocean outfall idea.<\/p>\n
He recalled emerging from February\u2019s public meeting in Bromley \u2013 \u201cand you could smell it\u201d. He was adamant the council had to do something to relieve the suffering of local people. <\/p>\n
A few days later he drove to the ponds, \u201cjust me, jumped over the fence\u201d, and did \u201cmy homework\u201d.<\/p>\n
(Later, Mauger said he\u2019d worked at the treatment plant for three months about 45 years ago, while working for the family business, Maugers Contracting. He stepped aside from leading the company when he campaigned to become mayor.)<\/p>\n
His thought was: If less organic material went into the ponds it would give them a rest. Later, he bounced ideas off his contractor mates \u2013 \u201cIf we put a pump here, and we do this, and instantly my mind\u2019s going berzerk.\u201d He also discussed it with ECan chair Deon Swiggs.<\/p>\n
So the diversion to the ocean outfall was his idea? \u201cIt was mainly me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to [council] staff, look, I will wear this, right? I\u2019m not going to throw them under the bus. I said, \u2018Come on guys\u2019 \u2013 you know how enthusiastic I get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who did he talk to within council? Was the conversation had in the council building?<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, I just generally wandered around, talked to enough people until someone listened to me. I said, \u2018I\u2019ve got an idea let\u2019s look at it\u2019, and they said, \u2018oh yeah, we could look at that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big issue, he said, was treating the wastewater with chlorine. \u201cI still stand by the point that we weren\u2019t putting anything out to sea that was over our consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the perception of using chlorine, or the bugs that died because of the chlorine, that\u2019s what \u201clit it up\u201d. The plan was criticised by Fisheries Minister Shane Jones \u2013 \u201cand the last thing you do is cross swords with him\u201d, Mauger said, so he backed away from it.<\/p>\n
Was it appropriate for the mayor to approach staff directly, and ask an idea to be explored, without a mandate from councillors?<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to throw the idea out there and see what fell out of it, more or less.\u201d<\/p>\n
Did his defensive reaction on Wednesday, saying he was being painted as a bastard, signify his plan had backfired because it delayed ordering the aerators, and that\u2019s what councillors decided should be done anyway?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, no,\u201d Mauger said, reiterating he was never told he was \u201cholding things up\u201d. It was only a month\u2019s delay, the mayor said, \u201cand it hasn\u2019t smelt for a month\u201d.<\/p>\n
In hindsight, was his intervention a mistake? \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
95 percent versus 99 percent<\/p>\n
At Thursday\u2019s meeting, councillors voted for the \u201c95 percent\u201d option, to add 16 new aerators to the ponds, leading to three estimated days a year of \u201coffensive and objectionable odour\u201d.<\/p>\n
During the debate, several councillors bemoaned the fact they weren\u2019t allowed to vote on the \u201c99 percent\u201d option because it was blocked, on a technicality, by Mauger, and the seconder of his motion, Central councillor Jake McLellan.<\/p>\n
Linwood councillor Yani Johanson asked to amend their motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is,\u201d McLellan said, \u201cwhether it\u2019s an amendment or not because the amendment is identical to another option in the report. It\u2019s clearly a foreshadowed motion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mauger said: \u201cIf Jake and I had agreed to it, it could be alright, but we didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Linwood](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/260402-christchurch-wastewater-debate-yani-johnason-linwood-councillor.png\")
Linwood councillor Yani Johanson, standing, speaks during Thursday\u2019s debate. Screenshot: Christchurch City Council livestream<\/p>\n
Before voting in favour of the 95 percent motion, Johanson said, constructively: \u201cToday is about recognising that we\u2019re doing something constructive and positive to address an ongoing issue that has happened in our community, particularly in the east of the city, that has had an adverse and significantly negative impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
On his preference for the 99 percent option, he said: \u201cI think we owe it to this community to minimise and mitigate the risk as much as we can, rather than leave any risk that they will go through the hell that they\u2019ve been through in the past in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hornby councillor Mark Peters said Thursday\u2019s decision \u201ccouldn\u2019t have come soon enough\u201d. \u201cI believe we don\u2019t have any social licence out there in Bromley any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tyla Harrison-Hunt, of Riccarton, said the east deserved nothing less after decades of awful odour issues.<\/p>\n
Councillors gave staff approval to buy further aerators if the ponds under-performed under the 95 percent option. <\/p>\n
Harrison-Hunt said action must be taken as soon as a trigger point is reached. \u201cEven three days is not good enough for the community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It seemed a one-sided victory. On Thursday, Christchurch\u2019s city councillors voted 15-2 (only Andrei Moore and Mark Peters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,1702,5008,111,43,139,69,135,147,11219],"class_list":{"0":"post-361084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-infrastructure","10":"tag-local-government","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-sustainable-future"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}