Martinborough’s new street crossing lights are expected to be switched on finally in November, completing a drawn-out project which started in early 2023 with concerns about public safety after dark in The Square.
Ratepayers are on track to spent around $15,300 on each crossing lights upgrade, according to new information from South Wairarapa District Council (SWDC).
That sum is significantly lower than what SWDC had been proposing to spend before deciding in early 2024 to change the direction of the project and run a formal, competitive tender for the work.
From the initial focus on safety in The Square, the project was transformed into a proposal for new, standardised lighting on 16 crossings within the district – 10 crossings in Martinborough, along with two in Featherston and four in Greytown.
On 5 July this year, SWDC announced it had awarded a contract for all the new lighting work on the 16 crossings to MMS Group, a Hutt Valley-based civic facilities maintenance firm, whose bid won the council’s competitive tender. The contract covered trenching, cabling, poles, luminaire supplies and traffic management. SWDC said the work was expected to be fully complete at all locations by 30 September.
However, in late September SWDC principal roading advisor Tim Langley told The Star that completion would be delayed by “at least a month” because more underground cabling was being added to the works in Martinborough Square.
The decision to do this was made after 5 July and Mr Langley said the additional cables would add resilience to the electricity network within The Square and ensure less disruption in future.
Project changes
The extra cable laying by MMS Group follows the more substantial delay that occurred before the SWDC decided, in early 2024, to change its approach to management of the project, to encompass the 16 crossings (not just those in The Square) and put the contract out for tender on the GETS system (Government Electronic Tender Service).
Earlier in 2023, the SWDC had appointed Woodville-based business NZ Streetlighting as its project manager for the Martinborough crossings upgrade.
Official information released on request to ratepayers last December showed that this consultancy was paid $4,885 to “lead the project” for new lights in Martinborough.
After questions were raised by Martinborough Community Board members, SWDC reviewed the project and reassessed the process that it should follow.
Decisions were made to add the Featherston and Greytown crossings, and to use GETS. The GETS website states the electronic platform is “designed to promote open, fair competition for New Zealand Government contract opportunities.”
Mr Langley said the work was also advertised on the TenderLink e-tendering website which is commonly used by local bodies across New Zealand. MMS was the successful bidder out of three companies which responded to the contract tender.
Budgeting and expenditure
Prior to the tender process, SWDC allocated $500,000 for pedestrian crossing lighting to its capital works programme for 2024-25 (adopted by Council on 26 June).
When asked by The Star about budgeting and expenditure, Mr Langley said $500,000 was for Martinborough crossings only, “with an additional budget of $250,000 per year over the following two years to cover Featherston and Greytown.
“Due to the competitive tender from MMS, all three towns will be completed for approx $500,000 – a saving of $500,000 over the next two year period. It must be noted there have been substantial budget savings within the tender process,” he said.
Mr Langley declined to answer a question from The Star about how the $500,000 sum included in the SWDC’s 2024-25 budget was actually arrived at in the first instance.
The figure appears to have come, partly at least, from the work of the consultancy appointed by SWDC to “lead the project” in 2023 – and of course, the GETS competitive tender process in July 2024 has subsequently revealed a substantially lower actual cost than $500,000 for upgrading only Martinborough’s crossing lights. (MMS Group’s work is 16 crossings in three towns for about the same price).
SWDC expects a substantial portion of the capital cost for the project will be covered by NZTA/ Waka Kotahi contribution. Mr Langley said the State agency will be requested to pay 51% of the “actual certified cost” under the Regional Land Transport Plan. If the cost finally borne by South Wairarapa ratepayers is 49% of a total assumed to be around $500,000, the capital cost to ratepayers per crossing (on average) will be around $15,300.
The crossings
The lighting upgrade applies to 10 Martinborough crossings for which SDWC is responsible: four on The Square; one on Cambridge Road near The Square; two on Jellicoe Street; one on Texas Street near Martinborough Hotel; one on Dublin Street outside the primary school; and the tenth is on Oxford Street by the Museum.
Mr Langley confirmed SWDC had earlier considered solar powered street lighting for the crossings but said this was discounted due to potential shade from The Square’s trees and questions over how effective solar would be as an energy source during the winter months when lighting was most needed.
