Queenstown's council will invest $62.2million in Kingston’s reticulated sewerage and water scheme — to enable the development of 750 new residential sections.
Last week the council announced it was working with Kingston Village Ltd (KVL) to deliver new wastewater and stormwater plants, and a range of stormwater improvements.
Property and infrastructure GM Tony Avery said a "share of the delivery of the services" and costs had been agreed by the council and KVL.
Figures provided to Mountain Scene show council’s share of the stormwater scheme’s $12.3m, for the wastewater it’s $27.4m, and for the water it’s $22.2m.
Revised numbers will be proposed in the draft long-term plan, to be released for public consultation next month.
The Three Waters upgrades will be partly financed by a $36m interest-free loan from the Housing Infrastructure Fund — first announced in 2017 — with debt repaid through development contributions from KVL and targeted rates as and when new properties connect to the services in the future.
While existing Kingston residents will eventually be able to connect to the infrastructure, there’s no clarity or certainty around when that might happen.
A case for a reticulated water and sewerage scheme for Kingston was raised 21 years ago, when the Kingston 2020 plan was adopted, in which provision of adequate infrastructure was identified as a key issue.
But that stalled until a plan change rezoned 88ha of land just south of the existing township in 2009 to enable KVL’s development.
As part of the plan change, KVL was obliged to install water and sewerage systems for new subdivisions, thereby paying for the basic infrastructure, with the community required to meet some of the cost.
In 2016, the Otago Daily Times reported given the cost burden of the user-pays system, which included the council buying or leasing land for a wastewater plant and disposal field, it was deemed too expensive for the community which, in 2018, was home to about 350 people.
