Two-thirds of Rolleston Street residents in Mt Cook have signed a petition asking Wellington Water to truck away the spoil from the Omāroro / Prince of Wales Park Reservoir project so as to not permanently raise their sports field.

Raising the field by 1 to 1.5-metres is an option Wellington Water is considering as a means of carting less dirt away during the construction phase. “Residents feel raising the fields could be structurally unsound, will impact their privacy and safety, and would leave a field too small for proper use”, Mt Cook Mobilised spokesperson Peter Cooke says.

Instead they would prefer the spoil be trucked away over a period of four months (a month longer than if the field were raised), with truck movements from 9am to 6pmfive days a week. The cost is the same for either option.

The sports field in question is at the top of Rolleston and Hargreaves Streets, but only Rolleston Street will be used for trucking movements for the reservoir project, which is due to start in 2019. The proposed reservoir is to be 35 megalitres, the largest in Wellington, and sited on the hill just above the sports field.

Permanently raising the Upper Prince of Wales Park sports field is opposed by residents in 60 out of 91 addresses in the street – or 66%. 3% of addresses disagreed, 25% were empty or uncontactable, and the rest undecided.

The residents and Mt Cook Mobilised have long been in discussion with Wellington Water and do not oppose the reservoir itself, which is needed for greater water-supply resilience.

Wellington Water has consulted the community since 2016 on the reservoir project, and have done a good job keeping the community informed.

The petition will be presented to Wellington Water’s Senior Leadership Team on the field - at the top of Rolleston Street at 6pm Wednesday 31 January 2018.

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