Kaikoura District Council Rebuild Ramps Up

Kaikoura District Council’s Rebuild Programme aims to restore infrastructure and community facilities to at least pre-earthquake levels of service. Getting the job done is expected to take up to 3 years and to cost in the region of five times Council's pre-quake annual expenditure.

"It's a big job", said Council Rebuild Director, Will Doughty. "There are currently 83 separate projects within the Programme, covering local roads, bridges, stormwater, wastewater and drinking/tap water systems and Council owned buildings and community facilities. We've already achieved a lot - emergency fixes were in place quickly after the earthquake, planning and investigations are now almost complete and our procurement and funding agreements are in place. Now it's time for the bit people can see and touch."

"We've still got a long way to go and no doubt things will develop and change as we get further into the detail, but it really feels like we're on the edge of tangible progress and that's really exciting. Next year will be a big year!" Doughty said.

Speaking of the rebuild, CEO Angela Oosthuizen said, "The earthquake caused a similar scale of the damage to Council-owned infrastructure and assets as the Canterbury earthquakes did to Christchurch. However we're a much, much smaller Council with a much smaller ratepayer base. For us, the critical part of the rebuild is balancing speed with cost."

"We need to be as careful as we can to keep costs to the ratepayer as low as possible but we also need to get things rebuilt as soon as we can. Our residents want their community facilities back and we will get there, but they also need their water and sewerage systems to be resilient and fit for purpose. We've just got to balance the 'wants' with the 'needs' and keep the books in order along the way."

"Our funding partners have really stepped up to help and we're really pleased and grateful for their ongoing support. The New Zealand Transport Agency will fund 95% of the costs of all eligible earthquake related local roading and bridge repairs. The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management MCDEM will cover 60% of eligible water, stormwater and wastewater infrastructure costs. Council and our insurers will fund the balance - that is 5% of local roading repairs, 40% of water system works and all of the community facilities costs" Oosthuizen said.

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