Plea to council for water connection

A Dunedin man says he is trying to do the right thing by asking for permission - rather than forgiveness - for a connection to the city's water supply.

Quentin Blair and his family live at 309 Portobello Rd, but have been struggling to meet their daily water requirements while relying on rainfall and tank storage.

The house is not connected to the city's reticulated water supply, provided by the Dunedin City Council, because their rural property is "out of zone".

However, Mr Blair, appearing before Dunedin city councillors this week to ask for a connection, pointed out his neighbours had all managed to connect to the city's water network.

Some had done so after the council agreed to formalise previously illegal connections in recent years, he said.

Others without connections to the council network had used hoses to take water from neighbours who were, to fill their own storage tanks from the city's supply, he said.

He did not want to "vilify" anyone, but also did not want to go down that road himself.

He had also investigated ways to expand his on-site water collection, including bigger storage tanks, but that had proved impossible because of site conditions.

Instead, he told councillors, he was asking "for permission and not ... forgiveness" to connect to the city's supply.

A council staff report, by policy analyst Scott Campbell, recommended the request be declined, saying such a move would not meet the council's strategic direction, risked setting a precedent and was not technically feasible or commercially beneficial.

That was despite the council formalising more than 30 existing "out-of-zone" water connections between 2010 and 2014, including some on Portobello Rd, and eight out of 10 applications for new connections which were also approved.

Mr Campbell said a connection for 309 Portobello Rd would require the extension of the nearest water main, located 480m away, posing "significant technical challenges" complicated by difficult ground conditions.

It would also involve further disruption to Portobello Rd, in addition to that caused by the Peninsula Connection work, and cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to complete, he said.

The rates revenue resulting from the connection would not justify the capital and ongoing maintenance costs, and the homeowner should investigate other options, such as water deliveries, he said.

Mr Blair disagreed, saying the timing of any work on the water main could not be better, given contractors were already working in the area and traffic management was already in place.

Councillors, going over Mr Campbell's report after Mr Blair's presentation, asked for more information on the issue before considering the request again.