Residents of a village in south Auckland are fighting plans to build an oil treatment plant.
A company is planning to build tanks for more than a million litres of waste oil in Otaua, near Waiuku.
Locals are desperate to stop the project.
Long-time resident Bill Lee cannot believe a company wants to put a waste oil plant in his village.
“This will destroy the village as it is. This place will never be the same if that company comes here,” says Lee.
Waste Petroleum Combustion is asking for consent to build a new treatment facility in this paddock, with storage for up to 1.2 million litres of waste oil.
What was once the site of the village pub would become an office.
“Common sense should tell you that you don't put oil refineries in little villages. There are no emergency services here,” Lee adds.
Waste Petroleum Combustion says it needs a new site because the rent at its current location in Pukekohe is too expensive.
The company's owners would not appear on camera but they told 3 News they were proud of their environmental record.
They said moving their facility to Otaua would not have a major impact on the village and that the resident's concerns were unjustified.
The District Council has asked for more information from the company, before a resource consent hearing is held.
But it says the land is already zoned for commercial use.
“The crux of the issue for council is that we have only one zone for industry, for business, for commerce,” Mark Ball, Franklin Mayor, says.
Residents are meeting tonight to form a society to oppose the project
The site is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That is a daunting sum for the residents, but if all else fails they will look at the option of raising the funds to buy the land themselves.