Despite imposing water restrictions, Queenstown’s council took two-and-a-half weeks — and fielded 15 public ‘notifications’ — before fixing a leak on the main Kelvin Heights road this week.
After noticing water spewing over Peninsula Road on January 6, while out on a bike ride, Kelvin Heights resident Russell King sent council a ‘snap & send’ fix-it request that day.
Three days later, council imposed district-wide water restrictions due to the prolonged spell of warm, dry weather.
Council PR man Sam White confirms to Mountain Scene another 14 calls were received after the first one.
One would have come from King himself, who was somewhat hosed off recently when finding the leak still hadn’t been repaired, despite water restrictions now being in place.
White says the issue was a cracked 50mm low-density pipe.
He confirms a repair was completed and new asphalt laid down this Tuesday.
‘‘We work with our contractors to prioritise work on the basis of severity, and, currently, our capacity based on staffing levels, which have been affected by the ongoing local shortage.
‘‘Leaks across the district’s infrastructure are not uncommon, but are obviously more notable when water restrictions are in place.
‘‘We appreciate the public bringing leaks to our attention, and encourage everyone to keep doing so, so we can fix them as soon as possible.’’
It comes as Scene’s sister paper, Otago Daily Times, reported this week each person in the Queenstown-Lakes allegedly uses 440 litres of water a day, making us the biggest users of water in the country.
