‘Wall of renewals’ in pipeline

Upgrading essential infrastructure is one of the key planks in Nelson’s planning blueprint, with nearly half a billion dollars allocated over the next decade.

Among the eight key areas in the Nelson City Council’s long term plan (LTP), $491m has been earmarked for core infrastructure – from wastewater to transport to flood protection.

Over the next 10 years, infrastructure will account for 71 per cent of council’s capital works programme, and 49 per cent of its operational expenditure.

Council group manager for infrastructure Alec Louverdis said this represented a significant increase from the previous LTP in 2018, which had a budget of about $368m for infrastructure.

Louverdis said much of that increase would be set aside for infrastructure renewals across the city’s ageing water supply and wastewater network, much of which was installed in the 1950s and 1970s.

‘‘We’ve been doing sewer and water renewals since Noah stepped off the ark – it’s part of our DNA. So this isn’t a new initiative, but one of the things we’ve known for a while is we have a wall of renewals coming our way.’’

Louverdis said rather than leaving the bulk of those renewals for future generations, some had been brought forward to spread the load, so they could be completed over a sustainable period.

For the LTP, $20m each has been allocated for renewals of the water supply pipelines and wastewater pipelines. There will also be $23m set aside for the first phase of the Atawhai Rising Main renewal (set to be split into three stages), that takes half the city’s wastewater from Neale Park Pump Station to the Nelson Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Funding for capital projects for the Nelson Regional Sewerage Business Unit (with costs shared by the Tasman District Council) is also expected to amount to $58.4m over 10 years.

Other reasons for the increased infrastructure costs include the expected effects of climate change in future decades, along with variations to the rate of population growth.

Louverdis said the expanded capital works programme was also in place to help stimulate the economy.

Some of the other major projects include the final stage of upgrading Saxton Creek from Champion Rd to the sea, which will cost $20m and is scheduled to be completed by 2023-24.

Initial planning to set up flood protection for the Maitai River floodplain will also get under way in the next decade, with $830,000 budgeted for community engagement and a further $9.8m as a placeholder for future implementation options.

The picture is less clear on the issue of transport due to funding constraints for Waka Kotahi NZTA, and its business case for the proposed Nelson Future Access project lagging behind schedule.

This means that council has been unable to place any specific work in the LTP (or the Regional Land Transport Plan) other than general placeholders for the NFA project over the next 10 years.

Louverdis said placeholder funding of $30.2m over 10 years has been provided for in the LTP, which would include a range of short-to-medium term projects that would make the best use of existing infrastructure.

Submissions can be made on the LTP at Civic House and online on the Shape Nelson page.

‘‘We’ve been doing sewer and water renewals since Noah stepped off the ark.’’ Alec Louverdis

Nelson City Council