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It’s been confirmed that a wastewater pipeline from Warkworth Showgrounds to Lucy Moore Park will go through the main town centre.
At a Watercare Board meeting on December 12, the directors accepted a recommendation to proceed with the original pipeline alignment along Elizabeth, Queen and Baxter Streets, then through Lucy Moore Park to the new wastewater pump station.
This is in spite of objections raised initially by Rodney Local Board, One Mahurangi and businesses. As a concession, supported by One Mahurangi, Watercare says the route and construction methodology will keep disruption to the community, particularly businesses, to a minimum. It will “maximise trenchless construction” in Queen Street and Baxter Street, but will involve open trenching along Elizabeth Street.
Chief strategy and planning officer Perera told Mahurangi Matters that a fully trenchless option was not physically possible, largely due to the topography of the land, and the location of other services.
“We will still need to install some of the pipeline with open-trenching along Elizabeth Street and through the Lucy Moore Memorial Reserve to get to the new pump station,” he said.
“Several launch and reception shafts will need to be built in the town centre to enable micro-tunnelling.
The locations for these will be confirmed next year as detailed design progresses.”
The project will involve:
• Trenchless pipework from Warkworth Showgrounds to Hill Street
• An open trench from Hill Street intersection to the bridge
• A pipe bridge over Mahurangi River
• Pipe jack (or trenchless) construction along Queen and Baxter Streets
• An open trench from Baxter Street to Lucy Moore pump station.
One Mahurangi co-chair Dave Stott says the decision is “as good as we could have got”.
“Our team of engineers looked at a number of options including under the bowling club and along the river, but the technical and servicing issues meant that they weren’t really feasible,” he says.
“In the end I don’t think there were any better options. Once we had agreement about tunnelling, this was always going to be the best option.”
One Mahurangi manager Murray Chapman went one step further to tell the Board “it could not have been a better Christmas present for the town”.
He thanked Watercare for the concession [of trenchless tunnelling].
“We always knew the pipeline had to go through, it was just the methodology.”
The next stage will be to publicly notify the alignment and undertake detailed design and resource consent work, which is expected to take about a year.
Stott says One Mahurangi has been told that the tunnelling option will take considerably less time than the trenching option.
“We will be asking for more information, likewise for any disruption that may occur from the pilot pits at the Kapanui and Elizabeth Street corners.
“We still have to do quite a lot of work regarding Elizabeth Street. Watercare has undertaken to talk to each business owner and work out the best construction methodology to minimise impact.
“This may involve working at night, only opening up short sections of road at a time and using plates over the trenches during the day. We will be working very closely with Watercare and the business owners to minimise their disruption.”
Watercare says this programme of works will reduce wastewater discharges to the environment, improve environmental compliance, and enable growth in the Warkworth area. The target is to have the pipeline commissioned in 2028.
Elizabeth Street traders react
The feeling among Elizabeth Street businesses facing 12 months of open trenching is probably best summed up in two words – “very worried”.
Despite assurances from One Mahurangi that the pipeline work will be less disruptive because it will be done at night, most business owners agreed it was still too early to make such a claim.
Some businesses are open at night, while others wonder how much night work will be allowed given noise issues and nearby residences.
Rodney Curtain & Blind Specialists owner Don Fox says he is not at all comfortable with the open trenching in Elizabeth Street.
“Traffic management with metal grates over [the construction work] will, I am sure, make the public avoid the area as much as possible,” he said. “We still have no timing or duration information. With the economic conditions this year, we have had the worst sales in over a decade, and this news does not fill me with any confidence of improving business conditions moving forward. I can’t see the landlord helping out either, so very gloomy prospects.”
Shadze of Lace owner Tracey Paton agreed that the uncertainties of what was planned were worrying.
“We’re talking about people’s livelihoods,” she said. “The motorway has already had an impact on our turnovers, and now this. There are lots of ways it will affect the different businesses. We have a lot of older customers, and if they can’t park along the front, they won’t come. We’re being told there will be minimal disruption, but what does that actually mean?”
