Invercargill Water Tower strengthening work to go ahead

Friday, 13 December 2019

The Water Tower building in Invercargill which the Invercargill City Council plans strengthen.

An attempt to put the strengthening of Invercargill's Water Tower building on hold has come up short.

Invercargill City Councillor Nobby Clark tabled a motion at this week's council meeting asking for the work to be delayed.

Invercargill City Councillor Nobby Clark at a council meeting on Tuesday.

The previous council had approved strengthening work of the Water Tower, as well as the adjacent control building, at an estimated cost of $1.3m.

Clark's motion was also signed by Mayor Tim Shadbolt and councillors Ian Pottinger, Allan Arnold, Toni Biddle, and Lindsay Abbott.

* Invercargill City Council critic Nobby Clark seeks election

* Invercargill City Council to contemplate re-opening landmark**

Clark did not see the need to carry out the strengthening work now, given they had until 2031 to do so.

The Water Tower and control building strengthening was a water-rated cost.

He pointed to the Government's Three Waters project, and the need for alternative water supply in Invercargill, as other areas that would cost the council significantly.

'I don't think it is an appropriate use of the money at this stage. We've got plenty of time to strengthen that Water Tower.'

The council's water manager Alister Murray told councillors the alternative water supply had already been included in the long-term plan, while the money for the Water Tower was also available.

While the iconic look of the Water Tower provided arguably its most important value, Murray did highlight the Water Tower also provided a back up if its pumps failed.

Murray said the Water Tower was a public safety risk which was why it was decided to strengthen it to 67 percent of the national building standards.

Cr Alex Crackett said the council had two options, one was to strengthen the Water Tower the other to demolish it.

It was non-negotiable that the Water Tower would be retained and the work would need to be carried out sometime before 2031, Crackett said.

Crackett added it would cost more to carry out the work latter than now so she was keen to get the worked sorted.

The majority of councillors spoke against the motion which asked to put the Water Tower work on hold and in turn, Clark withdrew the motion.

Cr Nigel Skelt thanked Cr Clark for his 'refreshing due diligence' around the Water Tower.

He also questioned if the Water Tower work should be a priority given the other projects that were in the pipeline.

'What I'm encouraged about is that for the first time we are now going to look after our assets. That's encouraging because when the Rugby Park debate comes up we will certainly be looking after that,' Skelt said.