Auckland Council has approved Plan 120, a move that would permit building heights of up to 15 storeys \u2013 increasing the strain on the suburb\u2019s deteriorating water and wastewater network, Skelton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe infrastructure is failing and we need a constant rate of repair.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a \u201ccrucial junction point for the entire network\u201d, Skelton said the Hackett St engineered overflow point will be a serious concern during future severe weather events.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is potential for another catastrophic event in a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hackett St is central to the coastal suburb, which is predominantly made up of historic villas. Photo \/ Google<\/p>\n
But a Hackett St resident said that in a historic area like St Mary\u2019s Bay, the collapse was not surprising.<\/p>\n
\u201cOld stuff breaks,\u201d they said. \u201cIt\u2019s 100 years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the thing that worries people is there\u2019s been a hole there for three years and it just collapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The resident said Watercare had responded to the incident quickly but with the road expected to remain shut for two months, they were concerned about emergency access to the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that worries me is what happens when someone needs an ambulance or a fire engine.\u201d<\/p>\n
On social media, the St Mary\u2019s Bay Association wrote that the sinkhole had reinforced the community\u2019s concerns about local infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt Mary\u2019s Bay is an older coastal suburb with steep terrain, narrow streets and ageing underground services. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese factors must be properly considered before further intensification is enabled through PC120.\u201d<\/p>\n
The association said it is \u201cnot seeking to apportion blame\u201d and hopes to see proper planning around further development of the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to work constructively with Watercare, Auckland Council and elected representatives to better understand the condition of local stormwater, wastewater, and potable water infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watercare chief operations officer Mark Bourne said the organisation is still investigating the cause of the sinkhole and has closed the street for repairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know this work is disruptive to the community and we\u2019re keeping residents of Hackett St and nearby streets updated. We sincerely appreciate everyone\u2019s patience while we do this critical work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bourne said the work is expected to take about two months, but the length of time required will depend on the ground conditions and construction progress. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doing reactive water and wastewater works on Hackett St in St Mary\u2019s Bay where an existing area of collapsed road has deteriorated above our pipes. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis work will allow us to maintain water and wastewater services to the surrounding neighbourhood while we repair the damage to underground infrastructure and the road.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Auckland Council has approved Plan 120, a move that would permit building heights of up to 15 storeys…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1443,34891,10791,534,22509,806,51,1561,10709,1702,36694,12814,148220,111,43,139,69,6379,2171,17146,11596,12879,36655,45608,11420,17294],"class_list":["post-548799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-about","tag-affluent","tag-ageing","tag-amid","tag-areas","tag-as","tag-auckland","tag-bay","tag-concerns","tag-infrastructure","tag-intensification","tag-looms","tag-marys","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ongoing","tag-plans","tag-questions","tag-raises","tag-resilience","tag-sinkhole","tag-sparking","tag-st","tag-suburb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}