Road works - Centennial Park area

Construction work will begin Tuesday 24 June around Centennial Park area to install concrete islands and road line marking. The roads to be marked are: Te Kūiti Road, Park Street, William Street and Ngarongo Road. We ask kindly that this area be kept clear of vehicles and residents do not park on the road for the next couple of days. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Slip on Te Waitere Road – please drive safe

Council is aware of a significant slip on Te Waitere Road. Currently the road is down to one lane with priority give way traffic control in place. Given there is poor weather forecast towards the end of the week, we encourage those needing to pass through this site to be vigilant and drive safely and to the conditions.

‘More care needed’ as power company fined for oily stream

21 Dec 2015

A Waikato power company has been convicted and fined $31,875 after unwittingly discharging hundreds of litres of oil into a stream at Te Kuiti.

In February this year a number of Te Kuiti residents complained that the Mangaokewa Stream, which flows through their town, was “rainbow coloured” and smelt strongly of oil and petrol.

Following extensive searching by Waikato Regional Council staff it was discovered that the oil was coming from a site owned and operated by The Lines Company. The oil was a waste product that had been incorrectly stored on the site. The vat it was contained in had leaked, overwhelming a catch pit, and the oil had then saturated surrounding soil to the point that it seeped into the stream. 

After a formal investigation, the council initiated a prosecution under the Resource Management Act.

Much more care was needed, the council’s investigations manager Patrick Lynch said after the fine was announced.

“This was a completely avoidable incident for the Te Kuiti community and the wider environment. 

“Industrial sites need to know what hazardous substances they have on site, how they are stored and have effective safeguards in place should things go wrong.”

Mr Lynch acknowledged The Lines Company had done an exemplary job of cleaning up and had been extremely cooperative with the council: “However, businesses such as theirs need to be far more proactive about managing risks.”