Triumphant opening day for Mangawhai's new EcoCare Waste Water Scheme
Wednesday 20 January 2010, 5:12PM
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A triumphant open day celebrating the opening of Mangawhai’s new and innovative wastewater scheme, EcoCare, was hosted by Kaipara District Council on Saturday 16 January 2010. Over 300 people attended the event with guests including leading representatives from Northland Regional Council, Whangarei District Council and members of the Mangawhai community.
Kaipara District Mayor, Neil Tiller, is delighted with the successful delivery of the project. “Council together with contractors, Water Infrastructure Group Limited, has delivered to the Mangawhai Community a system that provides an effective solution to the waste water problem at Mangawhai. The EcoCare project, which has been in development in one form or another for the past 15 years, represents a proactive and positive approach by the community and Council towards curtailing the incremental degradation of Mangawhai’s estuary and water ways that was obvious in the early 1990s.”
The scheme has received the wholehearted support of Northland Regional Council. This support was clearly demonstrated at the opening with NRC Chairman, Mark Farnsworth, cutting the ribbon together with Mayor Tiller. Mr Farnsworth, as a Mangawhai resident, said his council was totally supportive of the scheme and that it was development that was excellent for the community. Mr Farnsworth also commented on the success of the opening day saying he had never seen support for an event like it. “It’s been an absolutely brilliant day.”
The project was undertaken on a public-private contractual model that provides for Water Infrastructure Group Limited to design, build and operate the scheme for up to 15 years. This model ensures the contractor has a vested interest in the scheme and develops a scheme that performs as required. This approach, together with the private sector funding model adopted by Council has proved to be a model for success.
EcoCare’s Project Manager, Peter Elliot, commended Kaipara District Council on its approach to the project, saying the crucial issue from his side was the development of a contract which created a public-private model which provided for the delivery of a viable and sustainable asset. “The real key to success in any such contract is Council, and in particular its CEO, understanding the concepts of the project and the contract. Kaipara District Council did this very quickly and effectively. The support from Kaipara District Council and its CEO has been vital to the successful delivery of this innovative project”.
A critical issue for the community was the final disposal option adopted for the project. The community was committed to an effective and sustainable land based disposal option. The end result has been that the wastewater will now be reclaimed and reused for sustainable farming which will meet United States quality standards, a first in New Zealand. A newly developed, controlled irrigation system has been installed at the Council owned dairy farm where the 11,000million cubic metre reclaimed water dam is situated. This system will allow Council the opportunity to undertake experiments with dairy pasture, crops and irrigation controls working in conjunction with leading initiatives in those fields.
Like many large undertakings, the project has not been without its complications. Two significant issues occurred during the course of the project which delayed practical commencement from 2003 to 2005.
Firstly, the Local Government Act was introduced in December 2002. This act introduced changes to Local Government which required Council to give consideration to the options on how to proceed with the project. In particular the Local Government Act specified that Council must own its water and wastewater assets. This requirement resulted in Council re-evaluating the delivery of the project and renegotiating the contract with the contractors.
Secondly, following the completion of a comprehensive tender process Council selected Simons Engineering as preferred contractor for the project. However during the early stages of the project Simons Engineering’s parent company struck financial difficulties. Simons Engineering was eventually placed into administration resulting in Simons’ preferred contractor status being withdrawn. At that time Council entered into discussions with the two remaining bidders from the tender process, NorthPower & EarthTec. Following those discussions, contract negotiations were entered into and signed off with Earth Tec, now Water Infrastructure Group in late October 2005.
In spite of these hurdles Council was delighted to celebrate the connection of the first household to the EcoCare on Wednesday 15 July 2009, just 18 months after the first ‘breaking of the ground’.
In spite of the above delays the project works are, with some minor exceptions caused by specific circumstances, completed on time and under budget. Those few remaining delayed connections are as a result of issues with developers and these are in the process of being resolved. The monies available due to the project being delivered under budget have been used to extend the coverage of the scheme.