Simon Henderson looks at highlights from the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board.
- Plans towards restoring the two-storey former Bank of New Zealand building in the main street of Waikouaiti have been given a boost with a $500 grant by the Waikouaiti Coast Community Board.
The Waikouaiti Coast Heritage Centre is working on preliminary work for restoration of the Historic Places Trust Grade 1 listed building, which was constructed in 1869 to plans by architect Robert A Lawson.
- The Eastern Boating and Fishing Club has been granted $1000 by the community board towards replacing weather-damaged cladding on their clubrooms facing the harbour at Karitane.
Club president Eric Boock said as well as regular club activities, including a children’s day, women’s day and a festive day, it provided the clubroom free of charge to local community groups.
- The Waikouaiti Coast Community Board has granted $2000 towards the cost of sign-writing of a new support vehicle for the Waikouaiti Volunteer Fire Brigade.
The brigade is raising funds for a new $68,000 4x4 ute which will help ensure it can continue to respond to various emergencies in the area.
- The future of water treatment facilities will be a big part of long-term plans at the Dunedin City Council.
During his update to the board, Dunedin City Councillor Jim O’Malley said investment in sewage plants was a key issue in the council’s future development strategy.
Long-term strategic investment into wastewater treatment plants was of particular interest for the community board, because sewage plants at Warrington and Waikouaiti could be close to their end of use.
It was expected Warrington’s sewage plant would get an upgrade to give it an extension of its lifespan, but then it would have to be decommissioned, and Mr O’Malley said Waikouaiti’s sewage plant could also follow suit.
The question then was where new sewage plants would be built, how many there would be and how they would serve the population.
This was probably the biggest infrastructure spend that the council was looking at and the community board could play a big role in discussing where future treatment plants might be located, Mr O’Malley said.
"It is going to be quite challenging, because it is little communities with fairly large distances between each one."
