The Southland District Council has applied for $76.9 million in funding for nine different 'shovel ready' projects as part of the government's infrastructure initiative to reboot the economy.

The Invercargill City Council and Environment Southland have mainly applied for partial government funding for their respective projects, but Southland District Council Mayor Gary Tong said the SDC had applied for 100% of the costs of its 'shovel ready' projects to be funded with grant money, except for the Te Anau Wastewater Membrane Filter project, where it has requested 50% of the $10 million cost to be funded as it already exists as part of the 2018 Long Term Plan (LTP).

Mr Tong said the SDC decided to request full funding from the government for the projects "to make sure [the SDC] can get them going quicker for the economic benefit of Southland".

"The government asked for a wish list, these are our priorities. If we can get these funded up to 100% that would be fantastic... but if not then the council will work through the process [of sourcing other funding]."

"The Prime Minister is saying to go hard so let's do it," he said.

In total, the nine projects are expected to cost $81.9 million.

The SDC has requested $5 million of funding for the Te Anau Wastewater Membrane Filter which is expected to cost $10 million. 

Group Manager for Services and Assets Matt Russell said The Membrane Filter Project was a "significant project" that in the SDC's assessment, meets the Crown Infrastructure Partner's criteria for projects that are ready to deliver in six months or under to quickly boost the economy.

$1.8 million has been requested for the Ulva Island Jetty and $5.3 million has been requested for the Golden Bay Wharf, on Stewart Island. Mr Russell said these projects represented major projects that did not currently receive adequate funding and were ready to deliver to the economy now. 

Mr Tong said the SDC had also requested $40.9 million of funding for three separate 'water reticulation renewal packages' as some parts of the pipe networks were "nearing the end of life”. $19.3 million was requested for the renewal of 37km of water supply reticulation. $3.8 million was requested for the renewal of 2km of wastewater reticulation and $17.8 million was requested for the renewal of 10km of stormwater reticulation.

$10 million was requested for the significant upgrades required for the historic Lake Monowai suspension bridge. A further $9.8 million was requested for a Bridge Build and Design package. 

Mr Russell said the reticulation and bridge packages represented existing renewals deficits that needed to be addressed and would form part of the next LTP.

He said these projects were also able to be accelerated to market quickly.

Finally, $4.1 million was requested to rehabilitate 10.9km of Southland roads.

Mr Tong said it was important to ensure that Southland – which has the largest road network in New Zealand with 5000km – could cope well with the increasing volumes of traffic and would be well prepared to manage the number of vehicles on the road once the lockdown was lifted and the economy re-starts. 

Mr Russell said the SDC would certainly appreciate any funding contribution from the government that would work to reduce ratepayer exposure, assist in addressing known infrastructure deficits, and work to stimulate the local economy.

The Infrastructure Reference Group, supported by the Crown Infrastructure Programme, is now reviewing all submitted 'shovel ready' projects to determine which are suitable for inclusion in a report to be considered by the Government.

It is not guaranteed that any projects provided to the Reference Group will be accelerated or receive support.