Principal left frustrated over sewer saga
A New Plymouth primary school has been left stranded up ‘‘that’’ creek without a paddle.
Frankley School’s two age-worn septic tanks have been on the brink of expiry for over five years, but the school remains reliant on them despite having paid $30,000 to connect to a council-proposed, gravity-fed extension leading to New Plymouth’s sewage system.
The money was a huge chunk out of the school’s building budget from the ministry of education, a decision principal Damon Ritai said he made in good faith after talks with the council, for fear delays could result in the school’s closure if the tanks wore out.
However, after spending the money, Ritai then discovered the proposal had been taken off the table by council.
The New Plymouth District Council’s engineering staff are currently investigating alternative options and if they look viable a proposal will be put to elected officials as part of the 2018-28 LTP, NPDC infrastructure manager David Langford said.
Ritai said the issue was something you’d expect to see in a third world country. ‘‘Frustrated is an understatement. After we had come up with an agreement about what we would do I heard nothing.’’
In 2015 he made a submission to the NPDC Long Term Plan that noted his disappointment with the council’s lack of consultation. It also outlined the school’s preference to connect to the New Plymouth sewage system as soon as possible.
Since then the school has gone to exhaustive lengths, including hiring experts and working with the NPDC to find a viable longterm resolution.
Findings from an NPDC inspection in 2015 gave the school a reprieve. It revealed that one of the tanks had at least two years life left in it and the other, maybe four. Ritai said the school’s board was constantly monitoring the situation closely.
The council’s decision to put it forward as part of the 2018-28 LTP meant the school could expect at least another year of waiting.
Langford said the council understood the school’s concerns and had spent considerable time investigating ways to connect it to the main sewage system.
‘‘Unfortunately, our detailed engineering designs have shown that it is not possible to build a gravity sewer that will function properly due to the steeply sloping land,’’ said Langford.
‘‘This only leaves pumping as a viable alternative.’’
Ritai said: ‘‘The school is not happy about that.’’
They had investigated the pump option in some depth and took it off the table because it would cost the school at least five times what it would compared to hooking up to the town line.
Langford said the other complexity was it did not currently own any land to build the sewage system on.
‘‘Much of the land is privately owned and some is subject to Treaty Settlement negotiations. We’ve tried to obtain landowner permissions but have been unsuccessful.’’
When council was asked if it had considered getting a third party in to help negotiate with acquiring land, it did not respond.
Council’s LTP highlights the area as one of the district’s growth areas. By the council’s own admis- sion in the plan, urban growth requires the development of necessary infrastructure to support it. This includes water networks.
The current District Plan has designated land either side and opposite the school as being in the Residential A Environment Area.
Colin Jackson, one of the region’s leading registered professional surveyors, said the expected inference is that the land has the capacity to have council-supplied infrastructure, being water, sewerage and stormwater.
Jackson said the council had advised five years ago that the sewer would be extended up the Waimea Stream, and an engineering firm had been contracted to provide a design.
He said some months later council advised that the gravity sewer option up the Waimea Stream was a ‘no-go’. The Office of Treaty Settlements had declined to allow the sewer to be laid over their land.
Jackson’s expert opinion was that the obvious location for the sewer was a gravity system following the Waimea Stream valley - the same as the main trunk sewer up the Te Henui, Huatoki and Mangaotuku Streams.
He said council knew the school was in desperate need of connection to a gravity sewer system. ‘‘It’s zoned Res A, hence needs sewerage to develop. Surely council is the key player who decides where development should be?’’ Jackson said.
He believed the obvious answer was to provide a gravity solution and avoid pumping.
‘‘The major concern I have is that the option remains that council may do nothing. Sewerage is one of the key infrastructure items which councils provide.’’
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