Tauranga City Council plans to invest $5 million in building an urgently-needed water reservoir in Eastern Tauranga.
In 1999, council bought a site for the 10,000cu m tank but, in 2001, plans were abandoned when the Historic Places Trust declined an archeological authority and there was strong opposition from tangata whenua.
Population
growth since means $56,000 will now be spent investigating an alternative site, dubbed ``Welcome 1', one of 13 potential sites identified. Council predicts Tauranga's largest growth area over the next 50 years will be to the east of the city in Papamoa where the reservoir is now urgently needed. By 2024, two more reservoirs are planned to service growing demand.
Mayor Stuart Crosby said council had held on to the land at Kairua Rd to keep it as an option. However, he said the possibility was there to sell the land, now being used as grazing, or turn it into a reserve.
Reservoirs positioned throughout the city are designed to provide two average days of water supply in the case of a mains break or a storm polluting waterways, also as a ready supply for fire fighting.
A similar tank was recently built at Oropi, costing around $5 million.
Council infrastructure planning manager Graeme Jelley said council favoured a concrete tank over steel for its longevity. He said the tanks were designed to withstand seismic activity.
Yesterday, council's projects and services committee gave the go-ahead for the investigation into the Welcome Bay site, which was undisclosed as the landowner was yet to be contacted.
The reservoir site needs to be about 60 metres above sea level with firm, relatively flat or even foundations. It should also have little visual impact on its surroundings and minimal cultural or archeological significance. The challenge was that suitable sites for the reservoir often coincided with those historically favoured for pa sites, Mr Jelley said.
Staff will report back to the committee on the results of the investigation in the first quarter of next year.
