Otarawairere project complete

Done and dusted, within budget and apart from some restoration works on a few private properties the Otarawairere/West End wastewater and stormwater reticulation project is complete.

A blessing led by Iwi Liaison Committee Chairman Pouroto Ngaropo to celebrate the completion of the works in an area of cultural significance to Ngati Awa took place on Tuesday 1 July 2008 in Otarawairere Village.

Speaking at the ceremony, Councillor Tony Bonne on behalf of Whakatane District Mayor Colin Holmes said the completion of the project on time and budget is a credit to the hard work and team approach between the Council, the community, Ngati Awa, the consulting engineers and contractors.

The Council acknowledges Ngati Awa’s support and their willingness to join hands with the Council, community and contractors to ensure a smooth implementation of the project.

“From investigations, design, consenting to construction stages, a team and partnership approach had been adopted and this is shown in the result that we have achieved today”.’

Mr Bonne said the Council feels a sense of achievement in that it has put in place a system that will help minimise the future risk of landslips in the area.

Property owners and residents in Otarawairere and West End can now look forward into the future with some assurance that they have a system that will meet their wastewater and stormwater needs for the foreseeable future.

The Council’s Chief Executive Diane Turner said the lessons learnt and experience gain by staff in implementing such a complex and challenging project are a major benefit for the District as it works to implement other disaster mitigation projects in Matata and Edgecumbe.

She thanked the Otarawairere/West End community for co-operating with the contractors and putting up with the inconvenience (noise, dust) during the construction period.

In February 2007, the Council agreed to proceed with the $3.4million Otarawairere/West End project as part of the district’s hazard mitigation projects. The project was in response to the severe landslips that occurred in July 2004. The magnitude of landslips prompted the Council to investigate what measures could be taken to reduce and minimise the risk of landslips occurring in the future.

Investigations by Tonkin and Taylor recommended controlling and removing stormwater and wastewater discharge away from the West End escarpment as the best way of reducing the risk of future landslips.