The road will stretch 600 metres between Fitzherbert Ave and Fox Rd. Photo / Mike Tweed
The road will stretch 600 metres between Fitzherbert Ave and Fox Rd. Photo / Mike Tweed
Whanganui District Council will spend an extra $1.4 million to complete a link road in Springvale.
Construction of Pingao Drive, stretching 600 metres between Fitzherbert Ave and Fox Rd, began last October.
A report from senior stormwater engineer Kritzo Venter said $6.5m had been allocated in the council’s 2024-34 Long-TermPlan, but updated estimates identified a $3.1m shortfall.
He told the strategy and policy committee on March 19 that non-urgent stormwater projects worth $1.7m had been deferred to reduce the cost and ensure the road was completed in the next 12 to 18 months.
Venter said the project’s scope included land acquisitions, the road and underground utility services.
“There has been a lot of work done on the appropriate consideration of stormwater management and discharge as, ultimately, the receiving environment becomes the awa.”
A reserve would also be formed featuring “really important ecological linkages and quantity management”, he said.
Kritzo Venter (centre) at the site last year, with engineer Rob Snijders (left) and Downer project manager Adam Millward. Photo / Mike Tweed
Venter’s report said increased compliance requirements, land and construction costs, and improved stormwater resilience had caused the escalations.
He told the committee the project was bespoke, not “off the shelf”, but officers were confident the revised figure would deliver the full project scope.
“Once you start dealing with acquiring people’s land under the Public Works Act, the costs and processes escalate significantly.
“Quite frankly, we couldn’t really foresee exactly what all those risks were until we started the actual negotiations.”
The link road would enable about 600 new homes, and the project aligned with the council’s new Strategy for Whanganui – Rautaki mō Whanganui, Venter said.
“It translates to quite a substantial amount of additional rates over many years.”
It is being built by Downer NZ.
Council chief strategy officer Sarah O’Hagan said the initial budget allowed for less than $1m for land acquisition.
“Land values in our district have gone up exponentially over recent times, that we didn’t foresee.”
All 12 councillors at the meeting voted to approve the additional funding in the 2026-27 Annual Plan. Councillor Kate Joblin was absent.
Deferred stormwater projects in Venter’s report include wetland expansion ($200,000) and Montgomery Rd to Downes Ave ($250,000).
A Montgomery Rd storage facility costing $800,000 was no longer required due to the reconfiguration of the “catchment management approach further upstream”, it said.
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present, his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.
