Dam project ‘like a slow train wreck’
The Waimea dam project has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion, says first-term Tasman district councillor Dean McNamara.
‘‘When the irrigators [Waimea Irrigators Ltd] approached the council 18 months ago and said they couldn’t afford to fund their share of the dam, on the original extractor-pays basis, the project should have derailed,’’ he said.
The council and irrigator group Waimea Irrigators Ltd (WIL) were proposed partners in the project to construct a dam in the Lee Valley, with work scheduled to get under way in January.
However, councillors on Tuesday voted 8-6 to effectively drop the $102 million project, after a $23m to $26m expected budget blowout required additional ratepayer funds of about $11.8m. McNamara was one of the eight who voted against the project.
The Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor said a ‘‘clear majority’’ of councillors, including himself, initially supported the project. That outlook changed for McNamara when the proposed funding model was changed in mid-2017, shifting more of the cost and risk to the council.
WIL was said to be ‘‘at (or near) the limit of their ability to pay’’, with the proposal hanging ‘‘in the balance’’.
It took the casting vote of mayor Richard Kempthorne to get through the proposed increased council contributions to capital and operational costs along with the nod to underwrite a likely Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd loan to WIL.
McNamara and some other councillors also raised concerns about a provision for the council to face the cost alone of any cost overruns above $3m. It meant capital contributions were capped for WIL but not for the council, he said.
‘‘As the costs blew out, the broken funding model just became unmanageable for ratepayers who have some of the highest general rates and the highest urban water rates in the country.’’
Community support for the project had also diminished over time, he said. Residents were not given the opportunity to say yes or no to the dam; the consultation asked ‘‘how they want to pay and how it would be governed’’ only.
McNamara hit back at Nelson MP Nick Smith and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, who on Wednesday criticised the actions of the eight councillors who voted against the motion to proceed with the dam and increase the ratepayer contribution. Jones said the thinking of councillors who opposed it belonged to ‘‘economic midgets, not regional leaders’’.
‘‘It is ironic that Smith and Jones choose to scoff at those of us who have concerns about housing affordability in our region and people on fixed incomes struggling to pay their bills,’’ McNamara said. ‘‘Perhaps they think it acceptable that there are hundreds of people in Waimea [area] drinking stock water while we subsidise irrigation schemes, rather than implement the national standards for drinking water on council supplies?’’