Ashburton Courier: July 11, 2024

COUNCIL BRIEF
2Baring SquareEast, Ashburton |POBox 94, Ashburton, NewZealand 7740 | Telephone (03) 3077700 |Website ashburtondc.govt.nz
Thursday,11July 2024 | ISSUE 187
NewFairtonpipe setfor hookup
Twoshort watershutdowns are
planned forthe Fairton supply
on 12 July and17July to allow
contractors to connectFairton to
the main Ashburton town water
supply.
The borethatsupplies Fairton townshipis
being retired and anew pipeline hasbeen
installed from Ashburton along Company
Road to Fairton.
Therewill be no waterinthe Fairton
network on Friday 12 July between 10am
and 2pm,and again on Wednesday 17 July
between 10am and 2pm.
People areencouraged to storewater for
drinking, or havebuckets of waterthat
can be used to flush toilets during the
shutdowns.Awatertanker will be also
parked outside Fairton Schoolfor the
community to access waterifneeded.
Infrastructureand Open Spaces Group
Manager Neil McCann said the shutdowns
had beenplannedfor the schoolholidays
so theschool would notbeaffected.
“We’vesplit the shutdowns over twodays
so thatthe period without waterisjust
four hours, and our contractors will be
working as quickly as theycan to do the
work.
“Waterwon’t be available during the
shutdown periods, and residentsshould
storewhattheyneed fordrinking or other
uses,likeflushing of toilets.”
The$470,000 projecttoinstall thenew
2.5km pipeline is on track to be completed
by the end of August. It has involved laying
180mm diameterpolyethylene pipealong
road sides to the existing Fairton water
CE -HamishRiach
Waterworks gather momentum
It’sgood to see the newFairton
waterpipeline projecttracking to
asuccessful conclusion andthe
township connectedtothe main
Ashburton watersupply in the
next fewweeks.
The well on Fairfield Road will be
retired and the severalhundred people
wholiveinFairton will have their
potable waterdelivered from deep
boresinAshburton,now connected via
anew pipeline.
As well as delivering waterofahigher
quality,this projecthas some good
financial wins. The originalestimated
pricefor the work was$975,000but
it has beencarried out forabout
$470,000, thankstoacompetitive
tendering process.
The newconnection meansthata
planned upgrade of the Fairtonwater
treatment plant to makeitcompliant
with newnational drinkingwater
treatment plant,where boosterpumps
will deliveritintothe Fairton pipelines.
Mr McCann said the pipeline hadbeen
fully constructedand wascurrently at the
commissioningstage.
“We’re nowready to link the twowater
networks and it’slikelythatFairtonand
Ashburtonpeople will notice no difference
standards will nownolonger be
necessary.
The combined savings will beused
elsewhereinthe waterassets area,
as other watertreatmentplants need
upgradingtomeetthe newstandards,
which requiremorestringent
monitoring and real-time waterquality
testing, as well as UV treatment.
Another waterprojectthatisalso
flowing successfully to completion is
the newMount Somersmembrane
watertreatment plant, which will be
fullyoperational soon and endthe
need forboil waternotices thatwere
oftenissuedafterheavyrainevents.
An official opening day,withtimefor
the communitytovisit thenew facility,
is planned for29August.
It is the mostsignificant improvement
on the Mount Somerswatersupply
in20years and, withthe newextra
storage reservoirs, will makethe supply
moreresilient.
in termsoflevelsofserviceonceFairton is
connectedtothe town supply,” Mr McCann
said.
“Wewillberetaining the pressure pump
systematFairtontoensurethe township
gets the same pressureandflowthey’ve
always had, and we’ll repurpose as
much of the oldwatertreatmentplant as
possible at other sites.”
Resilience,
in theform
of asecond
bridge
over the Ashburton River, wasalsoa
themefor the PrimeMinister’svisit to
Ashburtonlastweek,when he pledged
support onceagain forthe project–it
isjustthe fundingthatneeds to be
confirmed now.
To that end, Council has applied
to theGovernment’snew Regional
InfrastructureFund, formoney to
progress the second bridge,which is
avital backstop should floodinginthe
AshburtonRiver shutdownthe existing
State Highway1bridge.Aswe’ve seen
in floodingeventsofthe recent past,
asecondconnection is crucialfor not
only Ashburtonand Tinwald, butfor
freightcarriersthattravelthe wholeof
theSouth Island.
Theprojectisready to roll, andwe’ll
keep youupdatedonthe application’s
progress.
SHORT
AND
SWEET
SEE THE STARS!
The last of the Ashburton
AstronomyClub's free Matariki
publicviewingsatArgyle Park
will be held this Saturday, 13 July.
Weather permitting,the risingstar
clusterwill be visible from 5.45am
until 7am.
DOG-GONE!
July is dog registrationmonth and
dog ownersare certainly on the ball,
with about2500 dogs registeredso
far. There areabout6855 known
canines in the district, andthey
needed to be registered by the end
of July.
SOLAR FARM WORK
Stagetwo of the Lauriston solar
farm cabling projectbegan this
week,with newroadclosures and
detoursatLauristontownship.This
stageinvolves digging an open
trench from Church Street and
across Lauriston Barrhill Road all
the waytothe electrical jointpit at
Line Road intersection. Stagethree
is due to beginon18July.
NEW SPEED LIMIT
The new60km/h speed limit for
Methven (State Highway 77 north
of Methven townshiptojustpast
ŌpukeThermal Pools) goes live
on Friday 19 July.Work to install
the signs should result in minimal
disruptiontoresidents and
highway traffic. In the days leading
up to when the newspeed limit
applies,VMS (Variable Message
Signs)onthe roadside will display
the ‘go-live’date and Policewillbe
in the area in the daysfollowing to
remind driversofthe change.
1 ashburtondc.govt.nz
Thursday,11July 2024 |ISSUE 187