Environment key to expansion considerations for fruit grower

Development in Motueka has been strong, with new buildings going up almost weekly. One local company about ready to unveil two new buildings has made a decision to minimise its ongoing impact on local services and the environment as it expands.

Local family fruit grower Birdhurst Ltd has built two new single-level accommodation units on the corner of Staples Street and State Highway 60. The units will welcome existing and new workers who oversee the company’s orchards throughout the seasonal operation, pruning, thinning, picking, packing and shipping apples around the world.

Heath Wilkins, Birdhurst’s Managing Director, says the new buildings will have minimal impact on the local sewage serv- ices because they’ve installed a large on-site underground wastewater system that’s efficient and friendly to the local environment.

“Two 23,000L concrete tanks, buried underground, will treat wastewater that will be dispersed into the ground under adjacent land where native bushes and trees will grow.

That means all wastewater is treated on site and returned to the land in an environmentally friendly state.”

Heath says when making decisions about growth and investment, the company always looks first to what they can do that will leave a positive environmental impact.

“Anything we do as a business, one of our top objectives is to invest in systems that are proven to be better for our environment. As a business, we want to have a positive impact in everything we do.”

A few weeks ago, as the buildings were being fitted out on the inside, the concrete tanks were lowered into the ground next to the two dispersal fields that each measured 3 metres deep, 9 metres wide and 20 metres long.

More than 310 metres of pipe was laid here, which will carry the treated wastewater back into the ground.

Wastewater specialist Alastair Lewis of

Allflow in Richmond, which has supplied and installed the treatment system for Birdhurst, says the treated wastewater meets local authority resource management plan requirements and reflects international best practice.

“Our family lives in Motueka too, so we’re pleased to see a local company minimising their environmental footprint in the commu- nity,” says Alastair. Heath says the new units mean the company is poised for growth and expansion in the future and his workers will have a smart, fresh new place to live when in Motueka.

A tank is lifted into place at Birdhurst Ltd’s new accommodation units.

“I’m really glad as a local company that we can expand our business in a smart way. The wastewater system does smart work below ground, and above ground we’ll have smart new living spaces and green spaces with native trees and bushes that will make a really nice relaxation area for our guest workers.”

Dear Editor,

On behalf of the Save Our Springs campaign I wish to thank all those who joined our rally on the 12th of December in Richmond. The rally went exceptionally well as people from Golden Bay were joined by people from the Nelson/Tasman area including members of Extinction Rebellion. The new Mayor came out and stood among us watching and talking. I congratulate him on this positive step. One of the issues I raised with the Tasman District Council was that a small group of senior TDC staff are in denial that intensive dairy farming is the cause of the growing nitrate pollution at Te Waikoropupu Springs.

Because of their denial and bias these staff members have taken no steps whatsoever to fix the pollution problem.

As a result, the Council is not fulfill- ing its legal duty to ‘maintain or improve’ the waters of Te Waikoropupu Springs. I urged the Council to be wise and fiscally prudent and quickly address this legal and ethical issue.

If the issue remains unaddressed the Council runs the risk of someone, sometime in the future, resorting to legal action which would be an expense for ratepayers.

Council must pull their staff culture into line. They must keep the law on water quality, and must not let one industry sector (farming) dump its pollution into the backyard of others (tourism and the salmon farm). I look forward to the New Year and the release of the Te Waikoropupu Water Conservation Order (hopefully) in February.