Funding sought for water work
Waipa District Council has sought government support to help accelerate improvements to the district’s water services.
The Council has pitched a $53 million package of water upgrades and improvements as part of shovel-ready projects aimed at buffering local economies from the ravages of Covid-19. The government will consider supporting projects from all over New Zealand as long as they create jobs, are worth at least $10 million, provide public benefit and modernise the economy.
In response to Covid-19 Waipā has put proposals to Wellington worth around $214 million.
Group manager – service delivery Dawn Inglis said Waipā District Council has a backlog of waters renewal work. Like other high-growth councils, the district was grappling with the level of capital investment needed, given massive residential and commercial growth.
The water projects were already included in Waipā’s Long-Term Plan and would have been paid for via loans, or in the case of renewals, via funding from depreciation.
“These have been planned for a long time and the operational costs were always intended to have been funded by Council. But as our local economy tightens post-Covid it is going to be more and more difficult so we believe there is absolute merit in putting a bundle of Waipā water projects up for consideration,” Inglis said.
Projects proposed include:
- Upgrading the Parallel Road water treatment plant to provide additional capacity and security of supply and to upgrade the water supply to Pukerimu, Ohaupo and Te Awamutu
- Further upgrading the Te Awamutu waste water treatment plant to provide for further capacity and residential growth
- Installing a new and more sustainable aeration process at the Cambridge waste water treatment plan to improve effluent quality
- Accelerating existing pipe renewals and upgrades as well as the reservoir renewal programme
- Increasing capacity at the Alpha St water treatment plant in Cambridge
- Investing in updated technology to support better data and maintain public health standards
Inglis said the package of water work would create 210 long-term jobs in an industry already desperate for more, highly-skilled people.
“If there is any upside to this it’s the potential for some people to consider retraining into key industries, including the waters industry where there is an absolute shortage of people,” Inglis said.
“A key part of our application has been ensuring the work proposed drives training and upskilling opportunities to build a far more resilient workforce. That’s what we’re going to need. Nothing is guaranteed of course, but Waipā has done its very best to make sure our water infrastructure projects are on the list for consideration.”