New car park work started
A planned $1.7 million commuter carpark in Kapiti is due to open almost two years after the land was bought, but there may be further delays.
Greater Wellington Regional Council rail operations manager Barry Fryer said the carpark in Waikanae, north of Wellington, is due to open in mid-May.
However, there may be more archaeological material uncovered during the installation of soak pits.
The site was revealed as the site of Wi Parata’s homestead in the 1880s, and a cultural assessment was completed last year.
GW public transport regional manager Wayne Hastie said the risk of finding something new was low. If something was found, that part of the site would be isolated, and the delay would depend on its significance.
GW bought the old Waikanae Hotel site in June 2015, intending to build 240 new carparks.
Fryer said contractor availability and pressure for parking for Waikanae business customers meant construction was halted during December. It restarted on Monday, he said.
The small setback is the latest in a series of delays, caused by the cultural assessment and concerns the car park could swamp stormwater drains with runoff.
Work begun in September, but stopped when asbestos was discovered. In October council said the carpark would open in stages - half in November and half in January, but that didn’t happen.
Kapiti Coast District Council Waikanae ward councillor Michael Scott said he did not know why it had taken GW two years to build a car park.
‘‘It [cultural assessment] is the sort of thing they would have expected to need to get ... and there was a building on it built when asbestos was in use, so again it is not unexpected.’’
Hastie said the cultural assessment was expected, but asbestos was only discovered once contractors exposed the old pub’s foundations.
He said completion dates had to be flexible to allow for unexpected occurrences.
GW Kapiti councillor Penny Gaylor said extra carparking for commuters was needed, and she was pleased the project was nearing completion. ‘‘We’ve all been chomping at the bit for this ... we’re nearly there’’.
There will be 400 commuter spaces in Waikanae once the carpark is complete.