The public will have to wait another week before making submissions on the proposed Mataura River bridge.

The Gore District Council’s resource consent application to build the bridge as part of the Gore water treatment plant upgrade is on hold while the council updates its application documents.

Independent planning consultant Keith Hovell told the Southland App today (August 3) this would delay the notification of the application.

Initially, he thought it might take “a week or so’’ but the changes were minor and he hoped the new documents could be processed over the next few days, he said.

The changes are understood to relate to the visual impacts of the bridge on the values of the Mataura River.

There is high public interest in the bridge.

The Gore council needs to obtain land use consents under the Gore District Plan and Environment Southland’s Regional Water Plan. 

The council, in its role as the applicant, requested the consent under the district plan be publicly notified.

The council, in its role as regulator, engaged Mr Hovell to oversee the application process.

The east bank view of the proposed Mataura River bridge (artists impression). IMAGE SUPPLIED/GORE DISTRICT COUNCIL

The proposal is for a 90m-long, cable-stay bridge across the river near the intersection between Church and Huron streets on the east bank, and Surrey Street on the west bank.  

The bridge will carry water pipelines connecting the East Gore water treatment plant to the Jacobstown wells, as well as providing a safe link for cyclists, pedestrians and East Gore children who attend school in West Gore.

Mr Hovell said Environment Southland had not determined how it would process the application it has received. 

However, should it decide to follow the notification procedure, it would make sense to notify both applications at the same time, he said.  

When the notified process is used, the public has four weeks to lodge a submission on the application. 

This will be followed by a formal hearing before one or more independent hearing commissioners, who will have delegated authority to decide the district plan application.

Depending on how Environment Southland decides to proceed, the same hearing could also consider that application, Mr Hovell said.

The entire project - membrane filtration plant, pipelines, and bridge - will cost an estimated $10.8 million.

The bridge component (including design, consenting, the business case, site works and construction) will cost $3.7 million.

With NZTA as funding partner, the cost to the council is $1.6m.

The Gore council will fund the entire project by way of loan.