The Government needs
to stump up financially and contribute to the flood
protection scheme on the Water of Leith, Otago regional
councillors say.
Concerns were raised at a meeting yesterday considering the
increased costs of the Leith-Lindsay flood protection scheme,
in particular the fact major beneficiaries of the work were
Government-owned assets such as the University of Otago and
Dunedin Hospital.
An implementation plan giving the first public indication of
the new cost of the scheme on the Leith and Lindsay Creek was
discussed by the council's engineering and hazards committee
yesterday.
The scheme was originally costed by Opus International
Consultants in 2004 at $21.4 million, but when asked to
revise the cost in 2008, its estimate rose to $48.5 million.
The council's costs and revenue added another $4.8 million.
The council asked Opus to explain how the cost estimate more
than doubled and among the reasons given were construction
costs increasing 35% from 2004 to 2009, the contingency it
adopted was too low and that it underestimated the scale of
the works required for some major items and did not include
others.
Facing a $53.3 million price tag for the scheme, the council
developed an alternative implementation strategy costing
$31.2 million, plus the $10.3 million already spent.
The alternative scheme proposed was to complete more, but
smaller parcels of work, with each parcel individually
priced.
One of the major impacts on the scheme was the University of
Otago, as the Leith flowed through the campus, but because it
was Crown-owned it was not able to be rated for any
protection work.
Cr Bryan Scott said there needed to be a fair funding regime,
including a "fair and just" Government contribution for the
non-rateable university area.
While the Government had been praised in recent times for its
response to disasters, "true leadership" would be to support
a scheme that would "ideally avoid disasters in the future".
If the Government did not contribute, Dunedin ratepayers
would have to shoulder that burden.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.