An artist's impression of what the water education centre could look like in Hastings. Photo / Supplied
An artist's impression of what the water education centre could look like in Hastings. Photo / Supplied
Construction of a “first in New Zealand” water education centre near Hastings’ CBD is under way - but ratepayers will bear the cost of some of it after all, with the council signing off a loan for an extra $1.7 million for the project.
A focus of the $7.7 millionbuilding will be “educating and reframing how we think about water”, and it will be open to the likes of school students and community members when completed around mid-2023.
It comes as another big water project in Hastings was completed and blessed on Wednesday; the $24m Frimley water treatment and storage facility.
Both projects are part of an unprecedented upgrade to drinking water facilities across the district, which has been in response to the 2016 Havelock North water contamination crisis that resulted in four deaths.
The Hastings District Council is spending about $91m on various water upgrades and facilities, most of which have now been completed.
The Waiaroha water treatment and storage facility which includes the education centre (closest to the road). Photo / Supplied
One of the projects is the construction of the Waiaroha water education building, which caused a significant backlash in Hastings when it was first revealed as an $8.6m project under the moniker ‘Water Central’ in 2019, which is now under way.
A changed version of the design unveiled in 2020, one with a $6m budget and funded externally by the Government’s Drinking Water Capital programme rather than rates, was largely accepted.
But in September, the council decided to borrow an extra $1.7m for it, as rising building costs and some “enhancements” in design meant the budgeted $6m was not sufficient.
Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle, who recently awarded a contract to Gemco for the build, said it was an important project, particularly given the history of the Havelock North water crisis.
“For most people, they turn on a tap and expect clean and safe water to come out, but don’t really understand how we source water and how we collect it, how we store it, how we look after it, and how we deliver it through a network to businesses and homes,” he said.
“So, this is a really important part of telling that story and educating and reframing how we think about water.”
An artist's impression of the inside of the education centre.
He said the centre would be open to schools, community members and even visitors, as there was “a fair bit of interest in this from outside of the region”.
Bickle said a lot of schools wanted to add water education into their curriculums.
The plans for a water education centre, beside massive water reservoirs on the corner of Southampton St and Hastings St, were first leaked to Hawke’s Bay Today in 2019.
That led to a private investigator being hired by Hastings District Council to find out how that information was made public - which failed to find a source.
The water tank blessed in Frimley on Wednesday was originally scheduled to be shipped directly from the United Kingdom but ended up taking a circuitous journey via Malaysia and Taiwan, affected firstly by the Suez Canal blockage and then Covid-related restrictions, adding months to the delivery date.
