Hastings District Council has released new concept images for the water treatment and storage facility in the CBD. Image / Supplied
Hastings District Council has released new concept images for the water treatment and storage facility in the CBD. Image / Supplied
The tanks are back, and so are many of the elements that made Hastings District Council's Water Central proposal so controversial.
The question is, with a new name and a comprehensive redesign, will Hastings find its new water treatment and storage facility more palatable this time around?
The concept forHastings' roughly $20 million Waiaroha water treatment and storage facility were released for public feedback today by Hastings District Council.
The Waiaroha water treatment and storage facility will be located on the corner of Southampton St East and Hastings St South in proximity to the Eastbourne drinking water bores and existing pipe network.
The facility is part of the Hastings' Drinking Water Strategy (2018) which came after the 2016 Havelock North drinking water crisis.
Under the designs submitted, the two water storage tanks and a treatment building themselves (labelled as necessary infrastructure) will cost roughly $14m and be paid for by ratepayers.
Making it pretty, and adding educational elements that will provide visitors with information about water in Hastings, is estimated at $4 to $6m subject to final design.
That $4m to $6m would be funded externally – not from ratepayers, the council says.
The main purpose of the facility is to enable Hastings to meet national drinking water standards through enhanced water safety, improved resilience, and additional capacity, said council's director major projects delivery Graeme Hansen.
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said it will also be a place where the community can "develop a full understanding of our water ecosystem, from the hills to our west, along our streams and rivers, through our aquifers and wetlands, to our taps and out to the ocean".
It will have integrated indoor/outdoor education elements which will provide information on aspects such as how Hastings drinking water is treated and "live" information on water testing and give people access to information about waterways and aquifers.
"It will help us all learn more about this critically important resource and will be of real value to our next generations; the ones who will be managing this precious resource into the future," Hazlehurst said.
Previously, an externally funded building which would tell the 'story of water' was planned for the location. Image / File
The concept team engaged with iwi and educationalists "who agreed the facility would make an important contribution to an in-depth understanding of water and its management".
When Hawke's Bay Today was leaked information the council wanted to build a single tank (dubbed Water Central) with an externally funded $8.6 million building to tell the "story of water", feedback to the proposal was overwhelmingly negative.
The leak to Hawke's Bay Today in September 2019 triggered a subsequent $25,000 investigation that was unable to find the source of the leak, before the concept was sent back to the drawing board in December 2019.
It is one of two facilities of its kind needed in Hastings. The council received resource consent on Monday to build a second water treatment and storage facility in Frimley Park.
This proposal also received opposition from resident Frances Shotter and 3,000 people who signed an online petition she created.
An open day displaying the concepts will be held on September 12 from 10am to 1pm on-site with staff and councillors on hand to discuss the plans.
Between August 28 and September 25 feedback can be given online at www.myvoicemychoice.co.nz, by mail to Private Bag 9002, Hastings 4156, or by handing it in at council's reception in Lyndon Rd.
