Is it a glass half empty or is it a glass half full situation?
A Hawthorn Ave resident (who declined to be named) has decided to see Dunedin City Council contractors digging up his front lawn to replace a major wastewater pipe, as the latter.
"The contractor has come and taken trees and rose bushes away, and once the job is completed, he’ll replace them.
"It’s a great opportunity to do a bit of remodelling in the front garden."
He said a wastewater pipe ran under the house, and rather than bowl the house to replace it, they were diverting it through the front garden, out to Hawthorn Ave, and connecting it to another pipe line.
"It’s a bit of a mess but it’s all in the name of progress, eh."
Dunedin City Council 3 Waters group manager Tom Dyer said the wastewater pipe was being replaced in Hawthorn Ave as part of a package of planned renewals of old pipes in several parts of Dunedin.
The work is intended to improve the quality of the city’s infrastructure, reduce overflows and improve fire water supply flows.
The $4.3 million project included work in Mornington, Maori Hill, North Dunedin and Dunedin Central, he said.
"An old drain in common that runs through private property on Hawthorn Ave is being replaced as it is at the end of its life.
"The pipe is also being realigned so it can be maintained more easily in future."
He said work was being done on the road over the next three weeks to connect the new pipe to the main.
Traffic management was in place around the worksite, but the road would remain open as one lane.
"The whole job in Hawthorn Ave is expected to take around six weeks and will cost around $70,000."
