Infrastructure inadequate, hearing panel told

LAKE HAWEA

LAKE Hawea’s growing pains were brought to the attention yesterday of the panel hearing submissions on the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s proposed district plan.

Poor roads, inadequate water supplies and sewerage systems, an unreliable electricity supply and concerns about pressure from developers were the themes of the Hawea Community Association’s submissions.

The hearing, dealing mainly with zoning matters, was chaired by Trevor Robinson, with commissioners Greg Hill, Sarah Dawson and Calum MacLeod.

Association member Robert White told the panel the Lake Hawea roading network was being ‘‘held together by a patchwork of minor improvements’’ and was ‘‘struggling to keep up with current demand’’.

‘‘Almost all our main roads are too narrow to carry trucks.’’

Despite that, milk tankers travelling to and from the West Coast frequently passed through the township, to bypass Wanaka, including along the gravel Domain Rd which was ‘‘constantly under repair’’.

Mr White said the association had been trying to get the road sealed but the council had no funding.

Association chairwoman Cherilyn Walthew said it was a ‘‘constant mantra’’ for Lake Hawea to be told by the council: ‘‘We don’t have the budget’’.

Her concern was that the consented 480lot special housing area on the edge of town would add to the infrastructure problem when construction began in January.

The association submitted the SHA outside the township’s urban growth boundary opened the door for development to spread across the Hawea basin, and called for the existing boundary, which excludes the SHA, to be retained.

Ms Walthew pointed out the household bores in the Hawea Flat area dried up when the level of Lake Hawea dropped in summer, and Mr White said the Lake Hawea township was in need of a second reservoir.

As well, the council’s proposed pipeline to take sewage from the township to Project Pure, at Wanaka Airport, was likely to be delayed because two landowners were unwilling for it to pass through their properties, he said.

In addition, the area’s electricity infrastructure was in ‘‘disrepair’’.

The association submitted residents would ‘‘end up funding more than their fair share’’ of infrastructure costs arising from the SHA.