Urgency needed on river work at domain

"We did not see it coming and have been stung with a $500,000 problem." City councillor Brent Barrett

Frustration about delays locking in a solution to prevent further erosion at the Ashhurst Domain has overflowed, with Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith calling for an end to ‘‘months of bickering’’ so work on the Manawatu River bank could start as soon as possible

Hundreds of metres of bush, land, pathways and car park were washed away in floods in April, with the damage compounded by subsequent high flows in the Manawatu River. But there were still gaps in agreements about paying for the estimated $1.5 million rock wall to provide permanent protection for the area.

The city council has budgeted $500,000 for the work on the basis that it shared the costs equally with Horizons Regional Council and the New Zealand Transport Agency. But Horizons has only pledged $250,000 to the project and the transport agency’s agreement to share costs has not been put in writing.

Smith said Horizons’ contribution was ‘‘a joke’’, and the city council had ‘‘tried and tried’’ to get willing parties on board with the project.

Horizons staff and councillors seemed to be ‘‘struggling’’ to understand why the work and future management of the new banks was so important, he said.

One of the difficulties with the domain was that it was owned by the city council and the stretch of river from the Ashhurst bridge to the confluence with the Pohangina River fell between river management schemes, outside Horizons’ area of responsibility. Smith said that meant the city got caught out, owning a little bit of bank on a river it could not control.

Fellow councillor Brent Barrett said the city council had been ‘‘blind-sided’’, not knowing there was a problem about ownership and control until too late. ‘‘We did not see it coming and have been stung with a $500,000 problem.’’

Regional council chairman Bruce Gordon said after the meeting that Horizons could have communicated better with the city council about the risks of erosion at the domain that became apparent last winter, and about the need to take action last summer.

‘‘We should have gone back to them a bit quicker and we could have been more pro-active. But we did not follow up and it got worse.’’

Gordon said the new flood protection works would be absorbed into an extended river management scheme, so the banks would be Horizons’ responsibility to maintain.

Horizons group manager for river management Ramon Strong said the work should be carried out this summer when the risk of flooding was lower.

Survey and design work for the project, carried out last year, was being reviewed and updated to take into account erosion that happened this winter.

Strong said estimates of the total cost of the work remained ‘‘a little volatile’’. It was likely to be more than the $800,000 estimated a year ago, largely because demand and prices were high for the rock that would have to be bought.

No-one could be sure about the cost until the work was put out to tender, he said.

Strong said the council had not yet debated whether to assume ownership of the flood protection works.

Dennison said after the meeting he was heartened by Gordon’s assurances, but wanted to see those undertakings made formal, and he still would like to see Horizon’s budget for the project increased.