13 November 2001

Petone Water Feature

Hutt City Council has had to reject the tenders it received for construction of the proposed Petone Water Feature because costs were too high, Hutt City Water Supply Manager Gary O'Meara said today.

"It's extremely disappointing, the feature was unique, and we did everything we could to try and turn the concept into a structure that would reflect the designer's vision and the selection panel's choice, but it just wasn't possible within the $90,000 budget," said Mr O'Meara.

Civil Design Services have evaluated the tenders and revised the designer's estimates for construction up to $253,000. Council provided $50,000 in its 1999/00 Annual Plan towards the water feature and the Lotteries Commission granted a further $40,000.

"The original thinking behind the water feature - to celebrate and promote Petone's pure artesian water - still holds. This doesn't mean there won't be a water feature, it just means we are going to have reconvene a selection panel to choose a design that can be built within the available budget."

"That probably means revisiting the designs that were short-listed last year," said Mr O'Meara.

"It is still our intention to build a water feature at the intersection of Buick and Jackson Streets and Council is still supportive of the project."

The proposed water feature was designed by Petone-based designers Roger Thackery and Rien Faber.

"There has been a lot of work put in to this project, much of it on a volunteer basis, and I want to thank those people for their time and effort. Once a new design is selected we will look to commission the work as soon as possible," Mr O'Meara said.

Around $5,000 was spent evaluating tenders and scoping the project.

The Lotteries Commission has been told of the situation and indicated that it sees no problem in transferring its funding to a new design as the grant was made for a water feature and the intention is still to construct one. ENDS For further information please contact: Kirk MacGibbon Communications Manager DDI: 04-570 6940 Email: kirk.macgibbon@huttcity.govt.nz

Website: http://www.huttcity.govt.nz

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