The Kaikoura District Council has announced that construction on key projects in the horizontal infrastructure rebuild programme will begin before Christmas.

According to council chief executive officer Angela Oosthuizen, construction on Hawthorne Road and Gillings Lane bridges and on the aeration lagoon and Fords reservoir are expected to get underway in December. This will be followed by works on the Lyell Creek sewer in early 2019.

“We have a lot of support from central government, both from NZTA for roading and structures, and MCDEM for our three waters,” she said. “Over the last 15 months, the team has secured full and final insurance settlements, and successfully applied to MCDEM for $2.2 million to cover the shortfall from insurance.”

The council’s current capital contribution to the rebuild is $2.3 million, or less than 6% of the overall cost.

“It is really exciting to be on the edge of seeing physical progress for some of our district’s key projects,” Oosthuizen added.

“This is the largest capital programme that the council has ever had to deliver and preparation and planning has taken some time but now residents will start to see real progress.”