Waikato Regional Council has formally ended its Muggeridge’s pump station project after direct beneficiary landowners expressed a preference for more cost-effective options to be considered.

This follows earlier confirmation from the government that a Shovel Ready funding application had been declined.

At yesterday’s council meeting, it was heard the landowners preferred to look at a lower priced, drainage-focused solution after tenders for the construction of the pump station returned prices that exceeded the agreed budget.

In lieu of this, Hauraki District Council (HDC), with input from local Waikato Regional Council (WRC) operations staff, are developing alternative drainage options that would service the catchment for another 20-30-year period. The alternative drainage options will be presented to the community in July following an inter-agency technical workshop to refine the preferred options.

The Muggeridge’s pump station project, which included the construction of a dedicated (fish-friendly) pump station, canal and associated wetland, was paused in 2019 when the total cost was estimated at $6.4 million, up from $2.9m to $3.2m in 2016.

External funding of $5.7m was provisionally approved in principle under the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Climate Resilience “Shovel Ready” programme in August 2020 but this was subsequently declined in October 2021.

Integrated Catchment Management Committee Chair (north) Stu Husband said recosting the project in today’s testing market would set the total price even higher.

“After the funding was declined, we met with the direct beneficiary landowners and heard that, given the circumstances, a lower priced, drainage-focused solution was now preferred.

“Such a project will provide protection for a shorter period of time, but this reflects the conversations we have been having about uncertainty around current land uses and affordability with climate change and the ongoing issue of peat subsidence due to draining the land.”

This revised approach and the desire to find a more cost-effective solution has been supported by members of the Waihou Piako Flood Protection Advisory Subcommittee and the Hauraki District Council Western Plains Drainage District Committee.

The Muggeridge’s pump station project aimed to improve drainage services for around 1100 hectares of land comprising 19 landowners near Ngātea due to the ongoing effects of ground settlement.

To date, about $2.3 million has been spent on the project. That includes about $500,000 for two fish friendly pumps, which will be repurposed within the region.

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