40,000 urge council to drop Ashburton water dealHELENA O'NEILL/FAIRFAX NZ Bung the Bore founder Jen Branje delivers the group's submission against the proposed water-bottling plant in Ashburton to the Ashburton District Council on Thursday. More than 40,000 people have signed a petition urging the Ashburton District Council to abandon plans to sell Lot 9 of its business estate. Green Party fresh water spokeswoman Catherine Delahunty said Canterbury was in the middle of a water crisis with rivers running low, polluted bore water and water restrictions in some areas. "Yet here's a council selling the right to extract 40 billion litres of artesian water to bottle and sell," she said. Cr Neil Brown asked if the group would be happy for the council to sell Lot 9 without the water consent.

Source: Stuff June 30, 2016 06:22 UTC