JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF
Christchurch City councillor Vicki Buck is appalled by decision to grant water rights to Cloud Ocean Water without public discussion. (Video first published December 12, 2018)
Cloud Ocean Water has bought land for a second bottling plant across the road from a factory it is developing on the site of aformer wool scour.
The China-owned company could be eyeing up billions more litres of water from beneath Christchurch to bottle and sell overseas as part of a major expansion of its operations in Belfast.
At least eight bores with permission to take drinking water are on or next to the new site.
If it gains consent to use them, it could have access to another 7.5 billion litres of the city's water – five times what it can already take – for export each year.
Cloud Ocean already has permission to take 1.57 billion litres annually from two bores at the old Kaputone wool scour site on Station Rd.
Combined, the near 9 billion litres for bottling would make the company the second biggest consumer of water in Christchurch, behind only the city council.
Cloud Ocean Water has developed an initial site on Station Road in Belfast - and is now looking to expand.
Representatives of Cloud Ocean confirmed it had bought the new site at 55 Belfast Rd and has applied to the council for permission to build a plant.
But they refused to answer any other questions about the project, including how much water the company wants to bottle, when production will begin or whether it will try to acquire consents for bores on its land from their current owners.
Cloud Ocean director Feng Liang also declined to answer any questions when contacted by Stuff.
The firm has permission to take 1.57 billion litres of water from aquifers beneath Christchurch, which it intends to sell abroad.
If Cloud Ocean bottled all of the water it could be entitled to under the consents at its new site, that would amount to almost 25 million litres of water a day.
By comparison, the entire population of Christchurch – including all commercial operations – used 196 million litres on Thursday, according to council data.
City councillor Vicki Buck branded the idea "absolutely terrifying", saying: "It's just horrible, no matter which way you look at it – you can't justify it.
"The whole concept of the Cloud Ocean Water take is that it is simply one of potentially many. If the ability to transfer water consents from one owner to another and from one aquifer to another and from one use to another is allowed, this is what happens.
"In this case, the people of Christchurch have had no say whatsoever. It means the judicial review becomes even more important."
Cloud Ocean bought the land for its second site from Belfast Business Park and submitted a resource consent application to the city council to develop it just before Christmas.
The firm wants to build a 22,000-square-metre bottling plant and distribution centre, where it would also produce plastic bottles.
Cloud Ocean already owns a resource consent, currently inactive, for a 27m bore on the site, allowing it to extract 200 million litres a year for bottling.
City councillor Vicki Buck describes Cloud Ocean's expansion plans - and potential increase water take - as "absolutely terrifying".
Two resource consents for seven more bores on or beside the site are currently held by Rapaki Natural Resources, which previously owned the consent for the 27m bore.
One, which is active, allows almost 2.1 billion litres of water to be taken annually from three 120m bores. A second inactive consent allows 5.1 billion litres to be taken from four bores between 26m and 34m.
Rapaki Natural Resources director Phillip Burmester said his firm is "not in any discussions" with Cloud Ocean; the bottling company refused to comment on the resource consents.
Cloud Ocean is developing a second site at 57 Belfast Rd.
In December the city council also rubber-stamped Cloud Ocean's development of its initial site, on Station Rd.
It is turning the former wool scour into a 22,000sqm bottling and production plant, with warehousing alongside it.
A spokesman for Cloud Ocean said the second plant would "generate considerable regional economic benefits, both in the construction phase and when operational".
Once up and running the plant would employ a further 200 local workers. Cloud Ocean Water had already invested $60m in its first plant which at full production would employ 200 staff, he said.
Cloud Ocean Water refused to discuss its expansion plans but says its new plant - which will be similar in size to the one currently being developed, pictured - will bring in 200 jobs.
The issue of water bottling has prompted widespread outrage over the last year, partly because companies have to pay little for the privilege.
They do not have to pay for the water itself due to the Government's position that no one owns it, meaning it cannot be priced and companies can export it for negligible cost.
Aside from the cost of the Station Rd scour property and an adjacent old tannery, Cloud Ocean paid $2277 for its 1.57 billion litre annual water take.
Cloud Ocean will make bottles on site at its two Belfast factories.
Stuff