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Council’s number one priority is ensuring that our drinking water is safe, while also adding capacity and resilience to the system.
Council is making progress on the construction of drinking water treatment and storage facilities. These facilities are required to enable our district’s drinking water network to meet the new Drinking-water Standards for New Zealand 2005 (Revised 2018).
Water treatment and storage facilities need to be near drinking water bores and where they can connect to the existing pipe network. These imperatives, along with a range of other criteria, drove the selection of two sites for the district’s largest drinking water network, serving Flaxmere, Bridge Pa, Hastings and Havelock North.
The first site is on Frimley Park; the second is on a section on the corner of Southampton St East and Hastings St South in the inner city.
A comprehensive community engagement process was undertaken for the Frimley Park site, including direct contact with Frimley residents, a wider media campaign, an open day in the park in October 2019, and a publicly notified Resource Consent process. A Resource Consent hearing was held in July 2020 and Council has since received consent for this project. Ground works are underway, with a compliance deadline of mid 2021 to complete the works.
Progress reports on the water treatment and storage facility and the separate but related Frimley pipe installation project will be loaded to this page as they become available.
For more on the inner city site, now named Waiaroha, see here.
For an update on the upgrading of small community supplies, see here.
The completed Frimley water treatment and storage facility was blessed today marking a “huge milestone” along H...
14 December 2022
As Hastings’ major drinking water network upgrade nears completion mid-next year, Covid-related contractual delay...
15 September 2022
As we head into winter, work at the Frimley water storage and treatment facility continues at pace.
22 June 2022
The removal of the maintenance area on Frimley Park is underway, with the services provided from the site moving to...
14 January 2022
Hastings District Council will decide on a lead contractor and budget for the district’s two largest and most cri...
7 April 2021
The laying of pipes between the new Frimley water treatment and storage facility and the network pipes running alon...
29 January 2021
Everything about the water infrastructure being installed in Frimley is large-scale – from the large diameter pol...
1 October 2020
Construction of the new water treatment and storage facility in Frimley has started today [Monday, September 21].
21 September 2020
An agreement has been reached between Hastings District Council, Frimley resident Frances Shotter and the Friends o...
15 September 2020
Work on installing new water pipes through Frimley continues next week. From Monday, the Nottingley Rd and Frimle...
4 September 2020
A Resource Consent to construct and operate a water treatment and storage facility on Frimley Park has been granted...
25 August 2020
Hastings District Council has embarked on a comprehensive upgrade of its drinking water supply to ensure it is treated to the highest possible standards – safe drinking water is our highest priority. As well as advanced treatment, the upgrade includes water storage to provide capacity and resilience, especially in times of emergency or natural disaster. It is also intended to help us manage water during periods of high use (e.g. high summer) so that demand is met from treated water stored in the reservoir, rather than drawing it directly from the aquifer. This is about future-proofing our drinking water supply to ensure we always have enough safe drinking water for our urban residents. The best, safest, most cost-effective and efficient way to achieve this is for our water treatment and storage facilities to be located as close as possible to the existing water supplies.
Frimley is one of two areas from which Hastings’ urban water supply is sourced. The other is Eastbourne St in the city, where further storage is proposed.
Frimley Park already contains drinking water infrastructure (constructed circa 1960) including a water treatment building, bores and pipework, with elements nearing the end of their life and due for replacement. It’s important the new storage is in the vicinity of the existing network to retain the groundwater quantity, quality, and capacity requirements.
When investigating potential sites it was evident it would be very challenging to find another appropriate-sized area within the Frimley suburb to meet the need of being located near to the water supply.
Investigations into the Frimley Park site started in early 2019, and we have informed and engaged with the community on our plans through various platforms since that time. This has included:
Hastings’ existing water supplies are all in or near urban areas where there is access to water and to the urban network, i.e. Flaxmere Park, Frimley Park, Havelock North hills, and Eastbourne Street. This kind of infrastructure is not typically situated in the urban industrial areas of the district as it needs to be where there was no risk of potential contamination from industrial activities.
We recognise that Frimley Park is a valued open space and therefore any facility in this location must be appropriately sited and designed to avoid, remedy and mitigate any potential effects, particularly in regard to visual amenity and the qualities of the park.
The tank itself, and an ancillary building to house pumps and treatment facilities, is discreetly located within a less frequented section of Frimley Park, adjacent to the Hastings Girls High School boundary, with well-established trees being the primary mitigation. Further planting is proposed to lessen the visibility of the works. This includes creating a formal avenue of trees along the original driveway to further mitigate visual impacts.
The proposed water treatment plant will be fully compliant with district noise requirements. The nearest dwellings are more than 100m from the proposed site. Existing Council water treatment facilities in other areas are much closer to residential dwellings than those proposed at Frimley Park, so noise is not expected to disrupt neighbours.
Frimley Park is 19.17 ha and the proposed water treatment plant area is 0.20 ha or one per cent of the total park area. Located next to Hastings Girls High School, the project proposes removing the existing maintenance yard from the high profile area in the middle of the park. This is about 0.20 ha in size, and the intention is for this area to be returned to park land.
Frimley Park was gifted to Hastings District Council by the Williams family in 1951, with the original water supply bores and water treatment building being established in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Descendants of the Williams family have been involved in the most recent water infrastructure proposals for the park.
Frimley Park is 19.17 hectares in size. The water infrastructure will take approx. 0.20 hectares or one per cent of the total park area. This project also commits to the removal of the existing maintenance sheds from the park. This space, near the playground and also measuring approx. 0.20 hectares, will then be further developed and returned as parkland. Additional specimen tree planting is proposed to minimise the visual impact of the buildings.
Any noise from the plant will be mitigated by careful design and be fully compliant with District noise requirements, with the nearest homes more than 100m from the proposed site.
Enhanced water treatment and storage will make our drinking water supply safer and more resilient, and reduce our reliance on continuously extracting drinking water from the aquifer to meet consumer demand. The benefits of the proposed work include:
The best, safest, most cost-effective and efficient sites for our water treatment and storage facilities are located as close as possible to the existing water supplies.
Council went through a detailed site selection process before presenting proposed sites to councillors and then to the public. The following criteria had to be considered:
Taking all of this into account and after full consideration of a number of options, the proposed site on Frimley Park was selected. (The same process was used to select the Eastbourne site, on the corner of Southampton Street East and Hastings Street South.)
The preferred site is at the southern end of Frimley Park, next to Hastings Girls High School. This is close to existing water sources and pipes. It is a more remote and lesser used area of the park and has established trees that, with additional planting, will reduce the visual impact of the works for nearby residents, park users and passers-by.
The construction includes an 8000m3 reservoir of 38m diameter and 9m tall vertical walls with a 6m domed roof, with an additional water treatment building housing associated pumps, filtration, chlorination and UV treatment infrastructure.
Please contact Hastings District Council's Senior Projects Engineer, on +64 6 871 5000 or via email with any questions.
You can also view the following documents:
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