Plans to invest $500m for growing Hibiscus Coast community

We plan to invest about $500-million in wastewater infrastructure for the growing Hibiscus Coast over the next decade, including a major upgrade to the Army Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Chief strategy and planning officer Priyan Perera says the company will be actively managing new connections to its wastewater network in the area until the work is complete as it’s possible the treatment plant could reach capacity ahead of time.

“We estimate we can connect up to 4000 new homes before the treatment plant reaches capacity. This means anyone currently building, or with a building consent granted before 15 November 2024, will be able to connect when they’re ready.”

The Hibiscus Coast has been growing rapidly, and in the past few years Watercare has connected about 800 new homes each year.

“We’ll be investing about $500 million in wastewater infrastructure for the Hibiscus Coast over the next decade to support growth, and that includes a major upgrade to the Army Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant,” Perera says. “However, if growth continues at current high rates, our treatment plant may reach capacity before we’re able to carry out necessary upgrades,” Perera says.

“We believe the number of resource consents already granted outnumbers the remaining capacity at the treatment plant – so, for developers who have resource consent but don’t yet have building consent, we’re asking them to come and talk to us as early as possible to get an understanding of the remaining capacity at the treatment plant. We’ll be assessing these applications to connect on a case-by-case basis as we keep a close eye on the plant’s capacity.”

From Friday 15 November, anyone who applies for a resource consent to build a new home or business in the Hibiscus Coast will have a condition on their consent that says they won’t be able to connect to the public wastewater network until Watercare has upgraded the Army Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant to increase its capacity.

An upgrade to the Army Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is currently scheduled for completion in 2031 in the company’s Asset Management Plan. However, Watercare is hoping it can deliver an alternative upgrade faster and is currently exploring options for this.

“We’ll be keeping a very close eye on new connections and the capacity at the plant, and will share this information on our website every six months,” Perera says.

Anyone with questions about what this might mean for their development can email [email protected].