Council staff have chosen a preferred supplier. PHOTO/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
South Wairarapa District Council [SWDC] is forging ahead with its own pound in Featherston, despite an ongoing attempt by Carterton District Council to create a combined facility after previously failed talks.
A report to SWDC’s Planning and Regulatory Committee said work was progressing on a proposed dog pound at the former Featherston Golf Course.
Council staff have chosen a preferred supplier who is now entering a contractual arrangement to design and build a container facility.
The SWDC report said council officers were “mindful as to other council interests that may want to engage with SWDC”.
They said they were open to options that “do not take away from the South Wairarapa plan” in Featherston.
However, a previously commissioned report on a combined council dog facility stated Carterton’s Dalefield Rd was the ideal location for a joint pound between South Wairarapa and Carterton councils.
The options evaluated at the time did not include the site of the former Featherston Golf Course now being pursued by SWDC.
Instead, the report evaluated the suitability of Featherston’s Johnston St site.
The 2020 report by Armstrong Dixon Limited said: “for the combined pound facility, Dalefield Rd, Carterton is the preferred option, and it would be a modern facility able to house up to 20 dogs”.
At the time, the cost estimate of building such a facility was about $580k.
The Armstrong Dixon report concluded the potential benefits from a shared facility were “significant” and “dependent on the selection of a site at a favourable location”. It stated Carterton District Council would incur an additional 267km in travel per week if a joint facility were located in Featherston and if routine site visits were shared equally between the two councils.
In comparison, SWDC travel distances would be “status quo” if the facility were located in Dalefield under the same condition.
Carterton District Council recently instructed its chief executive to work with other Wairarapa council bosses to develop a business case for a joint Wairarapa Animal Control Facility, despite previous talks falling through.
Some South Wairarapa and Masterton councillors have previously expressed a desire for a combined facility. – NZLDR
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