Residents furious at two months of Wellington Water's noisy overnight works

A group of Holloway Road residents have voiced their opposition to nearly two months of overnight water works.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Residents in one of Wellington's oldest streets are furious at Wellington Water's plans to replace a wastewater pipe over nearly two months of overnight works.

A group of Holloway Road residents met council and Wellington Water representatives on the small, dead end street on Friday to express their vocal opposition to the work scheduled to begin on 15 June.

In a letter to residents, the water supplier said due to the very narrow width of the road contractors needed to fully close the road while work took place.

"There will be noise and vibration created by these works, including vehicles, generators and heavy equipment. To minimise the disturbance to residents, higher-noise activities such as concrete cutting will stop at 11pm each night.

"The project will be broken into several segments, with our contractors moving along the road in stages. However, it is likely you will experience a fairly consistent level of noise for the duration of the project," the letter said.

Derek Thunders' home is within the stretch of the road where work was proposed to take place.

"My bedroom wall is literally on the foot path and that's the case with a lot of people. The majority of residents are bang on the road side.

"It's in the bottom of a gully. There's hills either side. It's one way in, one way out. It's like a little amphitheatre as well so any sound in any part of the valley just ricochets down. You hear everything," Thunders said.

The work is scheduled to begin on 15 June.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Thunders said the explanation provided by Wellington Water at Friday's meeting was the night was the most budget friendly time of the day to conduct the work with less health and safety concerns about people who may come close to the work site.

"In a way I get it but - opposed to the impact on everyone that lives in that street - that's pretty miniscule. It's not like a busy street in the heart of the day anyway," Thunders said.

Fellow resident Malcom Frazer said the flyer to notify people of the work was delivered less than two weeks ahead of the scheduled start date.

"This was a complete ambush from Wellington Water. It's going to keep me up all night and essentially cause fatigue in my day job," Frazer said.

Frazer said he couldn't understand why it wasn't possible to do the work during the day time.

"We've made a number of suggestions, none of which have really been taken on board, and I think they're overstating the time restrictions that traffic management will take during the day. I cannot see why it can't happen. They close roads in Wellington all the time. It's entirely possible, it's more conveniant for them to do it at night and that's the crux of the situation," Frazer said.

Frazer said he'd endured previous works in nearby Raroa Road and had appealed successfully to the contracting firm to be provided with alternative accommodation.

"From a personal level - if they have to do it at night - I need to be able to sleep and they should be providing me with a situation where I can sleep i.e. somewhere to go and stay while the work's happening.

"The squeaky wheel gets the oil because a lot of people aren't going to have the confidence to squeak and yet they're still going to have major effects," Frazer said.

Holloway Road resident Malcolm Frazer.

Photo: Supplied

Frazer said he was prepared to interrupt workers if disruptions were intolerable and believed the community would stand behind him.

"I have a number of ideas and I believe there'll be a lot of support out in the community and beyond the Holloway Road community, particularily as this is going to impact other roads in the future. We need to stand together and actually stand up for our rights really," Frazer said.

In a statement, Wellington Water said it acknowledged residents' concerns and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

"While we have worked to minimise impacts, it is not possible to complete this work without some disruption.

"Our approach balances reducing impacts, ensuring safety, and delivering value for ratepayers. Traffic management and noise control plans have been reviewed and approved by Wellington City Council, and we will continue to engage constructively with residents throughout the project."

It said it understood concerns about night works.

"Daytime work would be preferable, but site-specific factors require work to be completed at night. Holloway Road carries high levels of pedestrian, cycle, and vehicle traffic during the day. The works take place around manholes in the centre of the road, making it difficult to maintain a safe lane width.

"To let people and traffic through, all work will need to be paused so the site can be made secure. This is a considerable disruption to work on site."

Wellington Water says the works will take place around manholes in the centre of the road.

Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A Wellington Water spokesperson said wastewate pipes beneath the road were over 100 years old and were at risk of breaking or allowing stormwater into the system.

"This could result in untreated wastewater overflowing into streets, private property, parks, and reserve land - posing risks to public health and the environment.

"Working at night, when traffic is lighter, reduces disruption and overall time on site. Daytime works could more than twice as long, increasing both costs and the duration of inconvenience for residents. It also reduces distractions and disruptions for workers, keeping them safer onsite," the spokesperson said.

They said the noisiest parts of the project - such as installing new manholes and a short section of open trenching - would be conducted early in the project.

"We will work to communicate timing to residents. For most of the project, noise will be limited to a steady hum from relining equipment, which is quieter than alternative methods such as open trench excavation," the spokesperson said.

They said workers would take steps to reduce noise, including using acoustic blankets and proactively monitoring noise levels.

"We encourage residents to contact Wellington City Council if they believe noise levels are excessive."

Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said council traffic and infrastructure staff were "on standby and ready to help" if Wellington Water decided to shift the work to daytime hours.

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