Ashburton square upgrade avoids double digging

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:

A “do it once” mentality meant extra work went into the recent $2.45 million Baring Square East upgrade in Ashburton, Canterbury.

During the redevelopment of the square in front of Te Whare Whakatere, the new library and civic centre, the Ashburton District Council also completed additional work.

This included rubbish bin upgrades and new bike racks, which infrastructure and open spaces general manager Neil McCann said were “absorbed by existing budgets”.

The extras required some upfront expenditure from existing renewal or maintenance budgets but it had the benefit of “not having to come back and dig things up twice”, he said.

The extra projects included a $187,985 additional footpath, kerb and channel along East and Cameron streets, which was not part of the original upgrade plans.

As the footpaths were on the list to be upgraded in the future they were not included in the square upgrade, McCann said.

"Once work started on the project, it was evident that in removing the old concrete nib wall there would have been significant damage along the edge of the footpath that would have required repair by patching new asphalt alongside the old footpath.

“The decision was made to bring forward the footpath work from future years to blend in with the new project and avoid having to dig up repair work recently undertaken."

The work was funded from the subsidised roading and drainage budget, he said.

The only additional cost to the original scope of the $2.45m Baring Square upgrade was the $75,000 needed for the removal of coal tar from the new road in front of Te Whare Whakatere.

The coal tar removal was included in the 2023-24 unsubsidised roading project budget approved by the council in September 2023.

The reloctaion of the Boer War Memorial, which had stood in Baring Square East since 1903, across to Baring Square West was also part of the project but was funded by a $150,000 grant received by the council as part of the Three Waters Better Off funding package.

The final cost for the construction of Te Whare Whakatere remains unconfirmed.

It was initially budgeted at $56.7m when construction began in 2021 but before its completion the council signalled a forecast budget overrun in the region of 10%.

Council chief executive Hamish Riach has previously stated the final cost would be known after the “resolution of all matter between the council and construction and design contractors”.

The project also received $20m from the government’s shovel-ready infrastructure fund.

An official opening date is yet to be announced.