Gore council still wants to build a bridge, but promises to consult with the community

Wednesday, 23 November 2022

The Gore District Council will continue to investigate building a third bridge across the Mataura River to carry water pipes. (File photo)

The Gore District Council considered two big projects at its first meeting on Tuesday night, and consultation with the community, as well as the costs, will be considered before any decisions are made.

The council voted to continue to investigate building a bridge to carry water pipes across the Mataura River at Gore, and to continue discussions with the Invercargill City Council, Recycle South and Bond Contracts Ltd to resume recycling in the district.

The council needs to get water pipes across the river to supply drinking water to residents. It had previously applied for consent to build a cable-stay bridge with walking and cycling access, but it lost a case in the Environment Court after some residents opposed the location and design.

On Tuesday, councillors considered whether to continue with the option of a bridge or consider drilling under the river to get the pipes across, but not without some debate.

* Pipe dream: Council criticised over water system wasting 'millions'

The Gore District Council discussed resuming recycling services, and building a bridge over the Mataura River, at its first meeting.

* Future of Gore's new bridge hangs in the balance as planner recommends consent be declined

Cr Bret Highsted said the council needed a high-level report with costs and visuals of the options before it consulted with the community. Cr Keith Hovell added that the cultural impact and timing, as well as the complexity of gaining consents, also needed to be considered.

Cr Glenys Dickson said there had been some talk in the community about installing pipes into the river bed, but council 3 Waters manager Matt Bayliss said that option was highly unlikely to get resource consent, although he would investigate the option.

The option of putting pipes on the State highway 1 bridge was discussed. Cr Stewart MacDonnell said there was too much flood risk on the river and questioned how the pipes would be protected. Bayliss said he would look into that option further but he said there was unlikely to be room for more pipes in the existing service ducts.

Cr Neville Phillips said he was annoyed at the fact the council was four years down the track, had spent a lot of money and was no further ahead.

He favoured building a bridge at Maitland St.

Gore district mayor Ben Bell questioned whether the council should consider a fully-contracted recycling system, and asked whether the service could be started sooner than July 2023.

“Let’s build it once, it may cost a little bit more but build it for the future and then at last we can say we have done it right,’’ he said.

After considerable discussion the bridge was the favoured option, although the cost, location and design of the bridge were not settled on. Councillors voted for a high-level report, with options including a bridge that would just carry pipes, to be prepared for councillors to consider before it consulted with the community.

The council also voted to continue talks with contractors to resume recycling services in the district from July 2023, but questions were raised about the cost.

The Gore District Council knocked back its kerbside recycling in 2020 in the face of rising costs, a collapsing market for recyclable product, a contentious and ultimately abandoned tender process, and a lack of Government direction on waste minimisation.

No costs to resume the service were listed in a report from council general manager critical services Jason Domigan.

Cr Highsted said the costs, including the appointment of a waste minimisation officer, should be put through the annual plan process if they were significant.

Cr Dickson said last time the council discussed recycling the costs were quite high. She also questioned whether clear glass could be separated from coloured glass, and whether Government funding was available if food waste was to be separated from general rubbish.

Mayor Ben Bell asked whether any consideration had been given for a contracted system, where residents paid a contractor themselves to pick up their rubbish and the cost was not covered in their rates. Other councils had moved to that model, he said.

Domigan said that had not been considered but generally speaking it would be cheaper to work with other Southland providers and councils.

Bell also questioned whether the service could resume sooner than July 2023 but Domigan said ‘’probably not.’’

Councillors voted to consider the costs while continuing to make decisions about resuming recycling services.