Featherston Watermain Renewals – 2025/26
About this project
The Featherston Watermain Renewals project is the first cab off the rank for Council in bringing the delivery of the capital water programme back in-house from Wellington Water Ltd (WWL) in July 2025. The project was released for open tender with Elite Drainage Wairarapa being awarded the contract in October 2025. It has been five years since SWDC has run its waters capital programme in house. The anticipated benefits of Council managing its waters capital programme directly include more cost control and efficiency and the use of local contractors as project leads or subcontractors where appropriate.
The Featherston Watermain Renewals scope is to replace aging concrete and asbestos water pipes, which are thought to be one of the sources of ongoing leaks and water loss. This project is essential to improve water supply resilience to the community.
Timeline
The renewal programme will be completed in two phases. Phase one is scheduled to begin on 10 November 2025 and run until the SWDC end-of- year brown out period (where programmed works cease for the holiday period) beginning on 15 December 2025. The order of Featherston streets for watermain renewal is Crawford Street, Boundary Road, Waite Street, and Birdwood Street.
Phase two of the project begins on 8 January 2026 and includes: Revans Street, Fox Street, Fitzherbert Street (SH2), Ludlam Street (SH2), Lyon Street, Hickson Street, and Fitzherbert Street East. The detailed programme for phase two will be completed at later date. Traffic management approvals for work on SH2 are currently under way.
Phase one (2025) – Crawford Street, Boundary Road, Waite Street, and Birdwood Street.
Phase two (2026) – Revans Street, Fox Street, Fitzherbert Street (SH2), Ludlam Street (SH2), Lyon Street, Hickson Street, and Fitzherbert Street East.
Current status – 31 October 2025
From 10 November 2025, works will get under way in Crawford Street, Featherston with the installation of new watermain pipe.
This work will take about two weeks from the 10 November 2025 until 24 November 2025. Hours of work will generally be 7am-6pm Monday to Friday, with some Saturdays worked if necessary.
Traffic management will be in place to help guide pedestrians, ensuring their access and safety is maintained throughout the works. We will also require that all vehicles are clear of the work site. This will be highlighted with no parking cones the night before.