Waikato Business News September/October 2017

66 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS September/October 2017
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Growth driving big Waipa water spend
Waipa District Council is looking down the
barrel of an extra $100-plus million spend
on water services over the coming decade.
And while most of that
money will be returned
to the council by land
developers and others, there are
concerns the wider infrastructure
industry may not have the
capacity to get the work done.
In its 2015-2025 10-Year
Plan, the council budgeted
close to $220 million for water,
wastewater and stormwater
work. That work is now underway,
including an upgrade of
the Karapiro water treatment
plant and plans to upgrade the
Te Awamutu water supply.
But massive growth, particularly
in Cambridge, means
Waipa ratepayers will need to
finance huge, new infrastructure
projects to allow housing areas
to develop in time for projected
demand.
Group manager service delivery
Barry Bergin said much
of the proposed new spend –
around $62 million - was ringfenced
for stormwater infrastructure
in Cambridge west.
By 2050 a further 14,000 people
will call Cambridge home, driving
demand for an estimated 212
new houses each year. Much of
the new development will be on
flat land where soakage is poor.
Mr Bergin said the council
would also be required to
meet much tougher discharge
standards. That would help improve
water quality but drive up
stormwater costs. Waipa must
apply to the Waikato Regional
Consent for a new district-wide
stormwater consent in 2022.
"Discharge standards are
now much higher than they
were," he said. "We've looked
at a range of options and there's
no cheap or easy stormwater fix
for Cambridge west. The work
needed to open up that area for
development is significant."
At this stage, physical drainage
works in Cambridge west
are tentatively programmed to
begin in 2020-21. But timing
and funding will depend on the
outcome of coming 10-Year
Plan discussions.
In addition to new Cambridge
housing areas, around
$22 million will also be needed
to provide water, wastewater
and stormwater to the Hautapu
industrial site. Road upgrades
are needed to open up the site
Meth “growing concern” for property owners
Since adding methamphetamine
testing of properties
to its services last year,
Hamilton-based alcohol and
drug testing company, Resultz
Group, has been busier than
ever.
“The problem with meth
(P) contamination is a lot wider
than the general public think,”
says Resultz Group managing
director Kyly Coombes. “It is a
real concern for property owners,
and our testing services are
increasingly in demand in this
area.”
Resultz Group has been
providing drug testing services
since 2012 and added property
meth testing to its services in
June 2016.
Between then and March
2017 company has conducted
approximately 120 property
meth tests in the Waikato region,
and discovered 30 of those
were contaminated to some
degree with methamphetamine
(including seven at excessive
levels). “A quarter of properties
tested returned detection of
meth. That’s the reality, and it
should be alarming for our community”.
This financial year Resultz
Group’s property meth testing
numbers are projected to increase
by 670 standard tests and
134 detailed assessments in the
Waikato region and beyond,
and Ms Coombes says they
are on track to meet that. “We
have been so busy with requests
to meth-test properties in the
Waikato area alone that we’ve
had to expand our operations,
and have added three new testing
technicians to our team.”
She says meth testing has
become essential for home buyers,
property investors and landlords.
“You wouldn’t purchase
a house without doing a building
inspection or getting a LIM
report, it’s the same with meth
testing.”
Ms Coombes says laboratory
composite testing is the best
meth testing option for property
owners because it determines
any level of methamphetamine
at a property. This includes a
full lab report, description of
the property, photos of the areas
sampled, explanations of what
is included in the report, and
recommendations for further
action.
Ms Coombes says the Government’s
new standard for the
testing and decontamination of
methamphetamine-contaminated
properties, released by Standards
New Zealand in June, will
help to weed ‘cowboys’ from
the industry.
“The new standard is important,
as it means homeowners
and investors will have greater
assurance that the practices
used to screen, test, assess and
decontaminate methamphetamine-contaminated
properties
are carried out to a high standard,”
says Ms Coombes.
Before the standards were
announced, three different levels
were being used in the industry,
which created complexities
around recommendations
for remediation and insurance
requirements.
and provide connections to
the Cambridge section of the
Waikato Expressway.
On the other side of the district,
the council must also build
a new wastewater connection
from the expanding Waikeria
prison to Te Awamutu. The cost
– around $25 million – will be
paid by the Department of Corrections.
Te Awamutu's wastewater
plant will be upgraded to
cope with Te Awamutu's growth
as well as the Waikeria extension.
The new wastewater connection
is likely to be in place
by 2020.
Mr Bergin said massive
growth in the district was
stretching his team's ability to
deliver the capital projects but
Waipa was not alone. Across
New Zealand, councils were
struggling to attract specialist
water and technical staff. Many
professional consulting firms,
used to support council staff,
were already at capacity, he
said.
"We already have an enormous
capital works programme
in front of us and growth across
the district is adding to that challenge.
It's a very positive challenge
to have but we will need
to think very carefully about
priorities and funding."
"Those will be issues that
elected members, as the decision-makers,
will need to weigh
up when they consider options
for the 10-Year Plan."
Councillors have yet to discuss
the potential capital works
programme in detail. Those discussions
will be held soon before
a first-cut of the 2018-2028
draft 10-Year Plan is developed
prior to Christmas.
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