Futureproofing Peacocke with a wastewater pipeline and bike path

Wednesday, 18 December 2024

Sven Ericksen is creating his legacy in the form of Peacocke’s wastewater services.

Before spending any money on Peacocke’s wastewater infrastructure, the Hamilton City Council project manager runs it by his wife.

Then Sven Ericksen runs it by his son. Then he imagines running it by his hypothetical future grandchildren. Because it’s not just council and government money he’s spending–it’s all of their money, too.

With his team of contractors at CB Civil, Ericksen has been working on the North-South Wastewater Pipeline and shared pathway in Peacocke.

The project funding is approximately $25.6 million - a mix of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund loan and council funding.

The simple asphalt path hides a wastewater pipe snaking beneath.

It’s a project that has involved a lot of futureproofing. Each decision made needs wriggle room for the expected and unexpected.

But water done well is not water done easy, says Ericksen. He chose his team carefully, picking out people who understand that the job isn’t just a job–it’s the future of Peacocke.

“It’s really easy to do the easy thing, it’s much harder to do the right thing,” Ericksen said.

“I remember as a child, my dad took me around Ōpōkiti and showed me telegraph poles, and told me how my great grandfather put those in.

The bridges along the pipeline cross over part of Mangakōtukutuku Gully, where birdlife is thriving.

“I should be proud of what I’ve done here and achieved. We all should. Just to point out to your mokopuna decades later and say ‘I did that’.”

He and his team are building the next stage in Peacocke’s future. Looking across the site, what appears to be a simple pathway connecting two cycle bridges is actually a facade covering a large wastewater pipe.

The pipes continue under the bridges, creating what’s called “bikes on pipes”. The bridges were installed at the same time as the pipes.

Both bridges cross the lush Mangakōtukutuku Gully, and one offers a never-before-seen perspective of the Whatukooruru Paa.

Cyclists can follow the wastewater pipes from the new homes planned near Fitzroy, all the way to the new Peacocke Wastewater Transfer Station, enjoying the gully along the way.

Roydyn Palmer and Sam Sherrard, contractors from CB Civil check the overflow tanks.

Ericksen would choose the bike over the car every time, especially during peak traffic hours.

“If I left at 7:30, the car might get me there in 40 minutes, but the bike will get me there in 30. Eight o'clock, 45 to 50 minutes in the car, still 30 on the bike.

The transfer station, open since March this year, is designed to encourage curiosity in passersby. A stained glass window offers a view of the station functioning inside.

“If I lived over there and worked in town, I know which way I’d be travelling. It’s a great place for kids to get on their bikes and just disappear.”

Asphalt was chosen over concrete in a bid to produce fewer emissions. Many such environmental decisions were made, but Ericksen said it’s up to whoever comes next to keep that ball rolling.

“This gully for example is only protected as far as people’s will to protect it goes. People forget how bad things have gotten in the past, so we keep making mistakes,” he said.

Over the bridge passing the paa is one of two sites that Ericksen calls “lizard land”. That’s where native copper skinks will be rehabilitated and cared for under the Southern Links project.

One of the sites has already been planted and the second will be planted around spring next year.

The shared asphalt cycleway will be completed and ready for cyclists and walkers from mid 2025, but it won’t stay there forever. It will eventually need to be realigned to make way for the north-south arterial road, which isn’t expected for another decade.