The Queenstown Lakes District Council is planning to poll about 50 residents to inform its final decision on the best long-term disposal option for treated wastewater from its Shotover plant. At a public workshop on Thursday, newDemocracy Foundation executive director Iain Walker told the council’s assets and infrastructure committee it would help the council make a “trusted public decision” on the issue before its deadline next March. The Sydney-based philanthropic organisation helps local councils with “deliberative democracy”, in which groups of randomly-selected residents provide informed insights or recommendations on complex public issues. In his briefing for the committee, Mr Walker said the deliberative poll method would involve the selection of about 50 Queenstown Lakes residents representing a “microcosm of the community”. They would be given 30-40 pages of information to read before assembling for a structured one- or two-day meeting, probably in late November. There they would hear presentations from small panels of experts and stakeholders, then split into small groups for discussions and a question-and-answer process. The panels would include technical experts, iwi, the mayor and councillors, as well as community and business groups. The participants would then respond to a set of questions relating to their environmental and cultural values, the discharge options, their willingness to pay and trust in decision-making. The purpose of a deliberative poll was to “provide insight into how public opinion changes after learning more about the topic”, Mr Walker said. “This insight will be used to inform elected members’ decision-making.” The participants would be paid about $150 a day to compensate them for their time and to “avoid skewing the random recruitment to those with an active interest in the topic”. He would report back to councillors with a detailed proposal that would include the questions participants would be asked and a list of panel members. The poll is part of an intensive review of the council’s interim decision in March to discharge treated wastewater into the Kawarau River from the end of 2030. The review is being led by Dr Alayna Rā, a Queenstown-based technical director with engineering and environmental consultancy WSP. The process is expected to take four to five months and cost about $500,000. guy.williams@odt.co.nz
