| 37 REGIONAL Hauraki District Council WATER & WASTEWATER DESIGN STORMWATER & FLOOD DESIGN CIVIL CAD SERVICES GEOMETRIC DESIGN ENGINEER TO CONTRACT / INDEPENDENT CERTIFIER ENGINEER TO CONTRACT • HAURAKI DISTRICT COUNCIL WWTP CONTRACT MANAGEMENT | CHARTED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS • SCCP PANEL MEMBER Decades of New Zealand three waters design experience for councils, contractors and developers plus independent Engineer to Contract and contract management. T T Sue Russell In-house department improves project delivery The largest project Council has embarked on is the construction of a new waste water treatment facility for Paeroa. Nestled within the greater Waikato Region, Hauraki District Council’s administrative area covers nearly 1300 square kilometres, extending across the Hauraki Plains, Paeroa and Waihi. Group Manager of Service Delivery, Adrian de Laborde has been with the Council just over 20 years and in his role oversees projects that support the delivery of the vital infrastructure growing communities demand. Projects are of a diverse nature, but all add to quality of life and Adrian says it’s really satisfying when a project, long in the planning, is finally delivered. “Given the nature of the projects we undertake, there’s usually a long lead-in time, enacted through Council’s LTP and annual works programme. We’ve recently enjoyed a wonderful dawn ceremony, welcoming the opening of the Hauraki Plains library and council service hub; a $4.7million project. We completed that project just under budget,” Adrian says. By far the largest project Council has embarked on is the construction of a new waste water treatment facility for Paeroa. The project, valued at $43–44million is tracking well, meeting scheduling milestones. “The initial work for this project, embedded in our 10-year plan, started in 2016 because the Government then had released the national policy statement on fresh water. It meant we had to have a rethink, so as part of our LTP we engaged consultants who would develop a plan that would comply,” Adrian says. The project got underway physically in 2023 and is due to be fully commissioned in September. Given its scale, the new plant has added a significant economic boost to the region, in the form of the Spartan Construction led work engaging more than 14 local businesses and contractors in its delivery. Adrian says key to the projects outstanding success to date, has been the quality of engagement and collaboration from key partners and businesses. “It’s meant this complex infrastructure spanning civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering has stayed on track and within budget.” Significant to the project’s success has been the fact that Hauraki District Council has its own in-house Project Management Office. Its existence now has meant that our capital project delivery overall has risen from about 50% to nearly 90%. “The improvement is significant as it means we are able to deliver on our budget in accordance with the LTP and also ensure the pipeline of work we have indicated through the Infrastructure Commission’s pipeline is maintained, which benefits industry,” Adrian says. “We’ve also allowed for the building of additional tanks as demand warrants, so we’ve taken into account Paeroa’s needs well into the future.” Another large project has involved the upgrade of Kerepēhi’s raw water system, increasing the 5.5km raw water pipe diameter from 450mm to 650mm along with upgrading the intake pumps, the construction of two new raw water tanks — a project Council has committed $10million to. Installation of a second membrane, along with an upgrade at Waihi’s water treatment station will bring further resilience, says Adrian. “Waihi only had one membrane unit and this $4million project (final cost $3.6M) has doubled the treatment capacity and increased resilience, the need for which became apparent after the 2023 flood events which caused quite a few slips.” All along, Adrian emphasises close and constructive engagement with iwi who, he stresses, have been really focussed on what is best for the wider community. “We’ve adopted a really pragmatic approach which has underpinned the success of these projects. Our Council has always put the must-haves before the nice-to-haves and this is why we’ve been able to achieve so many significant works programmes in the past few years.”
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