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Oakura Sewerage Go-Live Set for January

Tuesday 22 December 2009, 12:02PM

By New Plymouth District Council

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NEW PLYMOUTH

After more than two years of construction, the Oakura sewerage scheme is ready to go live.

This week three newly-built houses in the town will be connecting to the reticulated sewerage, and from 18 January around 560 other homes will be able to stop using septic tanks and join the system.

“It’s fantastic to reach this stage, when home owners may connect from January to this scheme which has been a significant undertaking by the Council,” says Manager Water and Wastes Brent Manning.

“The first moves to get a reticulated sewerage system for Oakura started in the late ’70s – and now, about 30 years later, all that work has come to fruition.

“I’d like to thank Oakura residents for their patience as they have lived through disruption on the roads and in reserves for the last two years as the system has been built beneath them.”

The scheme’s final capital cost is forecast to be $23.8 million – well within the $24.27m budget confirmed by the Council in May 2008, says Mr Manning.

Home owners who have registered their intention to connect their houses to the scheme have 12 months to do so from January.

Before they can use their connection to the sewerage system, they must have a building consent and their sewer laterals must pass an inspection.

“Home owners can contact either their plumber or the Council to get these final steps completed,” says Mr Manning.

The first ground was broken in August 2007 when work started on the trunk main from Oakura to New Plymouth’s Botany Place. That was followed by 18 months’ construction of the town’s gravity reticulation from February 2008, and the pump stations from August 2008.

About 80 per cent of the town – around 560 homes – will be connecting to the scheme.

When all of the homes are connected, about one million litres of sewage will be pumped to the New Plymouth Wastewater Treatment Plant every day. That represents almost five per cent of the 21 million litres of sewage and wastewater the plant treats on average on a daily basis.

On Friday the Council was advised by the Office of the Auditor General that the office will not undertake any enquiry about the Council’s management of the Oakura sewerage project, after considering three complaints from members of the public.


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