About $50,000 to clear snow

Clearing roads after mid-August's heavy snowfalls proved an expensive exercise for the Waitaki District Council.

Roading assets manager Geoff Young said the cost of clearing the district's roads had yet to be finalised, but confirmed the bill would be about $50,000.

Much of the money was spent clearing the Kakanui Valley and the area to the north of Macraes Rd, he said.

The most recent snowfalls were "much more significant" and the cost "way up" on that incurred after the heavy snowfalls of late July.

The snowfall of late July was immediately followed by warmer weather, meaning the black ice forecast was not as bad as first feared, he said.

That was not the case after August's heavy snowfalls, which resulted in a combination of deep snow and white and black ice.

Mr Young said the money was spent on a combination of grit trucks, snow clearers and snow ploughs, with front-end loaders used to clear snow drifts up to 2m deep in some places.

The most recent snowfall was New Zealand's most widespread for 16 years and some farmers in the district had "never seen anything like it", Mr Young said.

The council had not made an application to the New Zealand Transport Agency's emergency reinstatement fund to help pay for the work, he said.

 

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