Awatarariki downstream debris control options to be evaluated
At its meeting yesterday, the Council approved a programme which will see the appointment of an external project manager and supporting consultants by 10 August. Financial, legal, insurance, property and cultural advisors will be selected later in the month.
The Council’s Matatā Projects Governance Group will oversee the project and a range of key external stakeholders will also be invited to contribute, including Iwi, property owners, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, the Department of
Internal Affairs, NZ Transport Authority, KiwiRail and the Department of Conservation.
Governance Group Chairman Councillor Russell Orr says the project team will analyse all of the downstream options identified in the recent report on the upstream debris detention structure, which had been proposed for the Awatarariki
catchment. As a result of that report, the Council has abandoned plans for an upstream solution, because the plannedring net debris detention structure was not considered feasible.
“The report identified four possible downstream options, three of which involve bunding structures which were first considered following the flooding and debris flows which devastated Matatā in 2005,” Councillor Orr says. “We will also be looking at the construction of a ‘basin’ to contain a future debris flow, plus the ‘chute-to-the-sea’ option promoted by some members of the Matatā community.”
The options analysis will take into account technical feasibility, construction costs, cultural and environmental impacts, and legal and cost implications, with the aim of identifying the best possible solution for all of the parties involved.
Funding for the project will be drawn from the budget allocated for Awatarariki catchment works in the Council’s 2012- 22 Long Term Plan.