Otakiri Springs currently pays only $2003 in compliance costs each year,
allowing it to take 700,000 litres a day. The consent doesn't expire
until 2026.To get more news about
Nongfuspring, you can visit en.nongfuspring official website.
Now
prospective owner Nongfu Spring Natural Mineral Water wants to increase
the water take to 5 million litres a day. It's the same aquifer where
New Zealand company Oravida takes 400,000 litres a day.Whakatane
District Councillor Mike van der Boom says companies are taking a
precious resource from his area and not paying a cent for it.
"We're
subsidising them to make a profit," he says."We just want our water
preserved, a sustainable take - what is a sustainable take? Do they know
what that is? I have a lot of questions and not many answers."
Environment
Minister Nick Smith maintains his stance that charging companies to
take water is ridiculous."If parties opposite want to start imposing new
taxes on the use of water, where are they going to stop? Will air be
charged for next?"
But Parliament's opposition parties are united
- get water, pay a royalty."We do believe that commercial businesses
that are taking water out of the ground for free and then making a
profit out of it should pay for the use of that resource," Greens
co-leader James Shaw says.
The Wall