Hastings District Council to decide on pump station location

In April this year residents displayed their concerns about the pump station being located on a green space on the corner of Karanema Drive and Te Mata Rd. Photo / File

The Hastings District Council is to decide today where to put a water booster pump station in Havelock North after opposition to a plan to build it on a green space on Karanema Drive.

In January residents near the small park on the corner of Karanema Drive and Te Mata Rd gathered a 25-signature petition calling for the council to find an alternative site for the pump station, and for the area to be reclassified as an open space reserve.

They also held public meetings to express their concerns about the effect the structure would have on nearby property values, the loss of some of the trees, the size of the facility and the noise it would generate.

In a report released ahead of today's meeting, the pump station, along with the Hastings to Havelock North water trunk main, was said to be the first stage of the council's drinking water strategy, developed in response to the 2016 campylobacter outbreak.

"The booster pump station is a critical facility for maintaining reservoir levels and delivering an adequate water supply to Havelock North."

After hearing residents' concerns the council explored an alternative industrial location at 15 Karanema Drive, the site of the fire station, and today councillors will hear the merits and issues associated with each site before being asked to choose one.

Aside from the community opposition to the 25 Karanema Drive proposal, the report noted that choosing this site would have no financial implications since it was already budgeted for, and that while there was strong interest from those potentially affected, wider public interest appeared low.

For the other site at 15 Karanema Drive a small number of potentially affected residents had been spoken to, with minimal opposition at this point, but a significant factor would be the unbudgeted cost.

At a meeting in April council officers were asked to report back on this and said the cost of constructing the booster pump at the fire station site was estimated at $900,000, the bulk of which would be spent on acquiring the land and creating two easements.

This did not include any contingency amounts or costs to complete land and easement transactions and resource consents, and was on top of $3 million that had been budgeted for the project.

"The increase in cost at $900,000 to establish at the fire station site remains a significant increase to the $3m budget ... this, along with other factors, need to be weighed against the community opposition that has been clearly expressed," the report said.

With the land already zoned as industrial, it was likely to have less impact on the surrounding neighbourhood, but while some responses so far had been positive, not all property owners were happy with this location.

"Further consultation will be required with adjacent landowners if this site is chosen," the report said.

In terms of concerns about the building size and appearance if it were built at 25 Karanema Drive, officers said there were options available to soften the visual appearance of the building, and extra mitigation could reduce noise levels.

In determining their preferred option, the report said the pump station had to be up and running by November next year to meet the timeframes for turning off the Brookvale Rd water supply, with the construction period for completion and commissioning predicted to take at least 12 months.