Residents might not have enough water to drink in Bridge Pa, but apparently there’s enough to support a proposed major housing development with a 50,000 cubic meter lake only 1.5km down the road from that community!
Globe Holdings (aka The Hastings Golf Course Development Trust) has proposed Private Plan Change 48, which would create the Long Lakes Comprehensive Residential Zone right next door to the area recently made famous by dry drinking water bores.
I don’t know who “Globe Holdings” is (can anybody tell me?), but this proposal would do even Andy Lowe’s Hill Country proud for its stunning inappropriateness.
OK, perhaps someone at Globe or the Hastings Council has undertaken careful studies to ensure that adequate water supplies will indeed exist out there in wine country (adjacent to the Ngatarawa Triangle) to service 155 residential units and re-charge the lake every month (so that algae and other nasties don’t foul the water, upsetting golfers).
Uh, uh. Guess again. Here’s the entire discussion of water supply in the proposal, and I quote:
“There is an existing town water main in Portsmouth Drive, shown in Figure 11. [Editor note: at edge of Flaxmere] The Council’s Water Supply Manager has confirmed that it has adequate capacity to supply the proposed development.”
That’s it, folks. How did he/she confirm this supply? With a divining rod, I guess.
But there’s an upside. At least in future years, when Bridge Pa residents run out of water, they can go down and bathe in the lake … and even get in some water skiing too. And maybe one of the lakeside residents will kindly offer a glass of iced tea.
The deadline for submissions on this beauty is Monday, March 16th. Click here for proposal details and a submission form.
Tom Belford
P.S. I’m filing an official submission on this one, Mayor Yule. I now have a tear-off pad of submission forms for dealing with the ever-foresighted HDC and its battery of lawyers.
So here's's a wonderful chance for Mare Mule [whatever] to put the 'Buzz'word he found last year into practice! Sustainability!!!!!!
So all those 100's of residents in the Globe housing community [I use the term community very loosely] can have closed system sustainable water system. The lake can be their sewage oxidation pond -the scum can be made into bio-gas [so they can get to town & back multiple times a day- forget about public transport -that' for the 'poor folks!]. A proper BTF system [not the $30 million joke at East Clive that will remove no solids] where a settleing pond takes out their 'stuff [ ok poohs etc] then a BTF and then a clarifier etc – back to clean water they can recycle [ you know what they put into their whiskey etc]. The compost they can use in their organic vege gardens [hahahaha] .
Yeah right – HDC bask in the sunlight of their own short-sighted ignorance.
Maybe all they have to do is look at Rotorua & Hamilton systems. If they can do it why can't we? Cos they got a lake & a river to consider while we got the cess pool – the moana that us white folks & Uncle Tom Maoris think it's OK to pour 'crap' into!
Maybe one day the light say go on upstairs – but given who purports to represent us Idoubt it will happen before I die.
Apart from that everythings jake!
Dave
I'm sure HDC will be able to easily source a large, almost endless supply of water for their latest dilusion of grandeur, They do seem, after all, in a constant state deNILE.
Funny how action springs up once an issue has made the nightly news. It was a shame they didn't illustrate just how close to Hastings Bridge Pa is on the report.