NWC: The Aviary’s sewer network can accommodate Colbeck units

Residents are against NWC’s plan to channel sewage from Colbeck Manor – one of the latest housing projects currently under construction in Old Harbour – to the Aviary Pen sewage facility via The Aviary housing scheme.

Such a plan, residents are contending, will expose them to the vagaries of future challenges that could have serious implications for their health and overall wellbeing.   

One of the main concerns of the residents is the capacity of the main sewer trunk that flows through the community, a question that the NWC representatives were unable to address satisfactorily following a series of meetings with the concerned citizens.

• Aviary residents, NWC at odds over Colbeck Manor's sewage pipeline route

However, in a letter dated December 14, 2021 and addressed to The Aviary’s de facto president Dianna Barrett and residents, the NWC said the existing main sewer line is adequate after an assessment was done on the network.

“The first instance the NWC has agreed initially to the interconnection of sewer lines from the Colbeck Housing Development that is now being constructed. As per license granted by the NEPA (National Environment Planning Agency), a total of 257 units will be connected to the NWC system before the full upgrade is completed.

“This work will be facilitated by an interconnection at the wall boundary of John-To-Whit Close and extend to the manhole at the intersection with Doctor Bird Circle. This route was decided upon following the NWC’s assessment of the conveyance system which traverses a section of the Aviary community,” stated the letter under the signature of Kevin Kerr, NWC’s vice president of operations.

After a detailed assessment the NWC said it can confirm that: “The existing infrastructure situated within the Aviary Housing Scheme has adequate capacity for the conveyance of the additional 257 houses from the Colbeck housing development [and]… The route meets the technical standards and is also cost effective.”

It further stated in the missive, a copy of which Old Harbour News has obtained: “We also outlined that the NWC has no intention of operating contrary to the approval received. Therefore, as stated, only the 257 units from the Colbeck Housing Development will be connected via this route.”

Approval has been granted to the NWC by the NEPA to carry out expansion and improvement works to the Aviary Pen wastewater treatment plant situated on the other side of the Bodles Gully.

The works, the NWC said forms part of a broader vision to centralize the management of effluent in line with international best practices.

Meantime, the Old Harbour Development Area Committee (OHDAC) has added its voice to the discourse. OHDAC’s president Randy Finnikin said the civic body stands in full support of the residents.

“I would support the proposal of the re-routing of the sewer line,” said Finnikin, the respected social activist. “I, like many others, don’t believe that we can have confidence in the NWC to use that route, which perhaps is the shortest route.”

Continued Finnikin: “But if they are more forward-thinking and continue the sewage line on to the main road in front of the New Testament church going in front along the Aviary, then it could become part of a centralized sewage system line for the town in the future. They just need to look at the bigger picture, forget the short cut [and] I would not support them going through the Aviary at all.

“We know NWC’s track record. NWC is not an entity that can, and have stood up to their word. When these things (sewer pipes) are blown out, what do they do?  They come and they dig up the road and they throw some marl in it. Aviary residents will have those ugliness forever.”

The NWC said all efforts will be made to “improve and safeguard” the community during and after the project is complete.

“The NWC team will closely monitor and manage the operations of the network to ensure that the residents of your community are not significantly inconvenienced and we will install a bar screen in the terminal manhole as requested in our last meeting,” Kerr concluded.