Date: 12 September, 2013

Contractors sought to remove free river gravel

Local contractors are being invited to formally express interest in potentially taking thousands of tonnes of free gravel from the Kaeo and Waitangi Rivers under resource consents held by the Northland Regional Council.

Joseph Camuso, the council’s Rivers Programme Manager, says under the terms of the long-running consents, up to 8000 cubic metres a year can be taken from the Kaeo River and up to 7000 cu m from the Waitangi River.

Mr Camuso says while the council holds the consents, qualifying contractors approved by the council can work under their terms.

“Contractors must adhere strictly to the consent conditions but provided they do that – and extract the gravel at no cost to council – it becomes their property for free.”

Mr Camuso says the gravel, which is technically classified as “fine to medium”, is typically used/sold by contractors as trench bedding, for farm races or as general fill.

The regional council has the consents because removing the metal is useful from a river management perspective and can help reduce stream bank erosion.

“Formation of 'gravel islands' and other sediment build-up can divert the flow of water into river and stream banks, eroding them and allowing sediment to escape downstream,” he says.

Gravel build-up can also reduce the amount of water a river can carry in a flood, worsening the risk to humans and stock and causing damage/disruption to private and public property, roading and rail networks.

Mr Camuso says advertisements calling for formal expressions of interest to extract gravel will be published in Northland newspapers shortly, with replies sought until 4pm on Thursday 10 October.

Interested contractors can also contact regional council’s river management team on (09) 470 1200.

General information on gravel extraction from rivers is also available from council‘s website at: www.nrc.govt.nz/gravelmanagement

ENDS

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