New Plymouth District Council says it is taking steps to protect Bell Block’s Mangati Stream by upgrading a sewage pump station on the adjacent walkway.
The pump station has a history of overflows whenever the station has stopped working, during power cuts or wet weather events.
To reduce the likelihood of overflows occurring in the future, large underground emergency storage will be installed beneath Mangati Walkway’s path.
“The first stage of the project is ground-testing – finding out how much water is in the soil and installing monitoring equipment in bore holes,” says Council Project Delivery Manager, Sean Cressy.
“The information we gather will help us design emergency storage that is suitable for the environment.”
Drilling the bore holes will start today. Council says silt control bags and fences will capture any sediment to prevent it entering Mangati Stream.
Pedestrians will be able to walk past the worksite with care during the three-week work.
Council says Stage two, the installation of underground storage, will take place in 2026/27.
This project is part of the Council’s $289 million investment over 10 years to 2031 to fix the district’s plumbing.
