Central Hawke’s Bay District Council Endorse Wastewater Strategy

The Big Wastewater Story, Central Hawke’s Bay’s major infrastructure project to secure the future of the district’s wastewater network, continues to move forward following the Council’s endorsement of the project’s strategy, presented at yesterday's Finance and Infrastructure Committee.

The Wastewater Strategy outlines a process to achieve the Council and community’s vision for resilient and sustainable wastewater management for the next 50 years. Its aim is to ensure that the District’s wastewater systems are developed and managed efficiently, effectively and sustainably for now and the future.

“Councillors have clearly stated that The Big Wastewater Story is our number one priority for the current term and yesterday we adopted a robust strategy – crucial for ensuring we get this! There are significant challenges ahead in upgrading and managing Central Hawke’s Bay’s Wastewater network and we in Council are very aware of just how important this project is for ourselves, and for future generations,” says Mayor of Central Hawke’s Bay, Alex Walker.

“Together, through the course of the project, Council and community will be making some huge environmental decisions that will have a significant impact,” continues Mayor Walker.

“This is a huge project and having a clear strategy means we can ensure that it project stays in-scope and on-budget,” says Chair of the Finance and Infrastructure Committee, Brent Muggeridge.

The Central Hawke’s Bay District Council is working proactively to address challenges both in the short and longer term of its wastewater plants.

The wastewater programme of works centres around the required upgrades to the District’s six current wastewater plants, located in Otane, Waipawa, Waipukurau, Takapau, Porangahau and Te Paerahi. Considerable community and iwi engagement on the direction of these projects is ongoing, with formal consultation on project options set to take place early in 2021.

In line with the 2018 Long Term Plan, several other supporting projects are underway to make immediate improvements to the network. This includes the removal of wetlands and preparation for de-sludging in Waipawa and Waipukurau.

A milestone of the programme was met last week, with the completion of stage one of the Otane to Waipawa Wastewater Pipeline which has seen 3.5km of pipe installed between the two towns. The Council’s 2021 – 2031 Long Term Plan will consider the next stage of the Otane to Waipawa Wastewaster Pipeline which will eventually see Otane’s waste transported to a central wastewater plant in Waipawa, servicing Waipawa, Otane and Waipukurau. 

“Development of a robust Wastewater Strategy sets out a process to achieve the desired outcomes as identified by the community, and aims to reduce unnecessary duplication, redundancy of infrastructure and the need for ongoing modifications of infrastructure into the future,” says Monique Davidson, Chief Executive of the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council.

“The strategy is intended to link to and as much as possible pre-empt and be ahead of environmental regulation,” continues Ms Davidson.

To follow the progress of The Big Wastewater Story and read the strategy, please visit www.chbdc.govt.nz/the-big-wastewater-story.

9 October 2020

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