Deferred maintenance disadvantage

We don't see pipes, they're all underground. But they're old.

THERE are several common themes for the human race that unite us all. One of those is we all believe we are above average drivers.

The other is deferred maintenance.

It deeply troubles me that we have a blind spot towards addressing maintenance on things we can't see. Our own health is a classic example, including the story I had in my previous editorial about a friend in England who held off seeing a doctor, fearing the worst. In the end, the worst was what he got. And I'm sure a dentist could have plenty to say about deferred maintenance.

Last week, the Salvation Army declined to take on purchasing state houses, seemingly because the sums didn't add up. The Government has confirmed a $1.2 billion cost for deferred maintenance for their state housing stock, so perhaps it's hardly surprising the Sallies said no.

Does our society choose not to "see" the side of the tracks where people need state housing? Tenants certainly deserve some of the blame for running housing stock down, but it is a societal mass which, as long as the Government was keeping things ticking along, could be ignored. Every winter, media does hard-hitting pieces on damp, cold homes in places like Porirua. The newspapers put it out there for people to see ... and yet we don't see.

Another matter is what I consider to be a looming crisis when it comes to pipework infrastructure. We don't see pipes, they're all underground. But they're old.

Fortunately in Wairarapa, we don't have a lot of new subdivisions and infill housing putting pressure on old pipelines. But it's the old pipelines themselves. All things break down. It's a problem hitting a lot of the Western world, particularly the United States. At some point, they have got to be replaced.

It would be hard to know whether a Wellington super-city is better or worse for deferred maintenance. The advantages are a bigger cash pool to fund the work. The disadvantage is Wairarapa would be last cab on the rank for infrastructure priority. We'd have to wait for Porirua to tackle its annual flooding problems, Kapiti to sort out its dam, or Wellington to fix its leaking water pipes.

Where would we sit against that?