Masterton District Council [MDC] has consented to a new subdivision being developed near Cockburn St, an area prone to wastewater flooding.
The 16-lot residential subdivision consent was granted by MDC subject to a raft of risk mitigation conditions, including staged building.
The consent was given to Blue Gum Partnership for the development in Andrew St, Masterton. The site is currently a paddock, with a watercourse along the road boundary.
Andrew St is adjacent to Cockburn St, where residents have been plagued by flooding issues for a number of years – including, in some instances, wastewater swamping their yards.
MDC had provided temporary portaloos to those residents unable to use their own toilets during flooding episodes.
Some Cockburn St residents have previously expressed concern about the possible impact of the development on the existing flooding problems in the area.
Steven May, MDC manager of regulatory services, said the consent is subject to infrastructure and other risk mitigation requirements.
“The consent for the subdivision restricts the number of houses that can be built to 10 until 1 January 2025, possibly sooner if the sewerage system has the required capacity,” May said.
“Houses cannot be built until the required infrastructure is in place. Timing is a matter for the developer.”
The application acknowledged the site has “poor soakage”.
“Due to poor soakage within the site, the proposal includes that stormwater from individual sites will be collected into water tanks. Stormwater from hard surfaces would be directed into swales and into an existing wetland area. The secondary flow path on the site is currently draining into this wetland,” it said.
The development is expected to connect to MDC’s sewage and water networks.
“Any stormwater would be managed onsite with water tanks forming part of any future building consent,” the consent said. “The allotments will discharge wastewater into Council’s reticulated sewage system.”
MDC’s services engineer had required more information about the disposal of sewage, and a meeting was held between the applicant and MDC officers, the consent said.
“There are recognised existing wastewater capacity constraints in the Kuripuni catchment. Council is working through an upgrade programme at present. To accommodate this upgrade programme Council requested that options be explored through the development of 3 Andrew Street, which will assist in the coordination of these upgrades with the development works. Council requested that the developer consider a staged development programme to provide time for Council to complete the programmed wastewater upgrades,” it said.
A pipe upgrade at the site is expected to help with potential capacity issues.
Based on the subdivision scheme plan, seven lots in the southern corner of the site [the lowest-lying area] are considered to be most susceptible to “surcharging” the wastewater network and could be most impacted by wastewater capacity constraints.
“These lots appear to be the logical lots to defer service connections if a staged development is required. The remaining lots are positioned above the wastewater pipe and therefore have a much lower risk of surcharge and will therefore be less affected by any capacity constraints.”
It recommended that the consent for the affected lots should require wastewater service connections be made no sooner than 1 January 2025.
A further condition of the consent is the submission of a detailed stormwater management plan for the entire subdivision to MDC for acceptance and approval.
These new sub-divisions have got to stop.until the infrastructure can cope with its increased demand on water, sewer, power supply and the increased volume of traffic using the roads.
It should now be part of the building consents for ‘newbuilds’ to put in water tanks and solar panels – whether this be the developer ??? and or the purchaser ??? The current infrastructure cannot cope with the ‘continual’ growth of these subdivisions tapping into the current water, power and sewer .
And of recent the $$$ cost of the council putting in water meters to charge for excess water usage should have been put into the water reserves planning , not into a scheme to charge a family who plant and need to water a vege garden for survival ! Whether ‘you’ the council charge or don’t charge for water makes not a difference if theres no water in the reserves !!! New reservoirs need to be built , not now , not tommorrow but yesterday ! This is beyond a joke !
Unfortunately the council wants more money.. we will all be pushed out eventually. They want big money. I pay $50 a week on Cameron Crescent. For rates.
Council need to sort the current shit that plagues residents in Cockburn st ,rather than pile more shit on shit