Chinese company Nongfu Spring wants more NZ water from wisepowder's blog

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.

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