A new bridge over the Manuherikia River, planned by the owners of a dairy farm near Omakau, would have a positive effect on the environment, allowing stock to avoid the waterway, the Central Otago District Council has ruled.
Larkhall Ltd had applied for land use consent to construct a 55m long, 4.5m wide concrete bridge, to be used for transporting stock and machinery from one side of the applicant's dairy farm to the other.
The council's hearing panel discussed the matter last month and its decision, announced recently, was to grant consent, subject to 19 conditions.
"The applicant has noted that the development of the bridge will result in improvements in terms of farming efficiency as well as water quality," council planning manager, Louise van der Voort, said.
Fencing would prevent stock and machinery from entering the waterway, removing the likelihood of any contamination of the river.
The bridge will be 2km upstream of Omakau, with the deck 4m above the river bed and 1.2m above the surrounding land.
It would be next to land that had been developed for intensive farming activity, she said.
"While the bridge will be clearly visible from public areas adjacent to the Manuherikia River, it is likely that few people would actually visit this portion of the Manuherikia River," she said.
The bridge and access ramps would be on land which had a flood hazard classification but the bridge would not be adversely affected by flooding and would not result in adverse effects on other properties.
The council's overall conclusion was that any adverse effects of the proposal would be only minor and were outweighed by the positive effects.
Under the conditions of consent, the fenced lanes to the bridge will have gates for public access to the river.
The handrails, bridge beams and piles have to be constructed from non-reflective material, and all practical measures have to be taken to minimise sediment in the waterway during construction.
Larkhall has also applied to the Otago Regional Council for two more consents it needs for the operation - land use consent for the bridge and to disturb part of the river and a discharge permit to discharge sediment into the river.
A decision on those applications had yet to be made, the council's resource management director, Selva Selvarajah, said yesterday.
