Kakanui makes choice

Ratepayers in Kakanui have supported the option of connecting both water and wastewater to the Oamaru system.

Two rounds of meetings and public consultation on connecting the Kakanui water supply and sewer network to Oamaru at an estimated annual rate of $750 or build a stand-alone treatment facility for water and a sewer pipeline to Oamaru at an estimated annual rate of $1030, resulted in the Oamaru connection option getting the nod from Kakanui ratepayers and Waitaki District councillors.

Council assets manager Neil Jorgensen said to a second letter to Kakanui ratepayers inviting them to signal their preferred option, resulted in 156 responses, with 145 or 93 per cent in favour.

However, hooking Kakanui into the system will come at a cost to Oamaru ratepayers: "This will amount to $7 per year, or 30 cents a week," he said.

Although 90 per cent of Kakanui water supply customers receive one unit or less of water, 34 consumers receive more than a single unit and some of these are vegetable growers.

"We need to look at how we can ease the burden of these extra points on these users," Mr Jorgensen said.

Once the system is up and running, Kakanui will become a zone of the Oamaru Water and Wastewater network.

Councillor Jim Hopkins paid tribute to Oamaru ratepayers who had lodged no adverse reactions to meeting the costs of Kakanui coming on line.

The Kakanui zone will comprise about 4 per cent of the Oamaru water customer base and account for 2 per cent of the asset value.