The Wrights Road Storage Ponds will be built on a 120-hectare property located on the corner of Wrights and Dixon roads near Burnt Hill. The 8.2 million m3 water storage ponds are expected to be operational for the 2029/2030 irrigation season.

Burnt Hill Storage Limited (BHSL) is the company that will own, construct and operate the Wrights Road Storage Ponds. BHSL will use Waimakariri Irrigation Limited’s (WIL’s) water race infrastructure to deliver stored water to BHSL shareholders.

BHSL and WIL shareholders live near the Wrights Road Storage Ponds site and operate farming businesses in the Eyrewell community. Along with all residents living near the site, they want to see the Wrights Road Storage Ponds built exactly to design with all consent conditions being followed and met. This shared outcome is what all stakeholders expect from the project, and it is what BHSL will deliver.

The purpose of this website is to provide residents in the Eyrewell community with key facts about the construction and operations of the Wrights Road Storage Ponds.

The website will include regular updates about the project. Importantly, there will be a section on “Consent Conditions versus Progress” that will be updated to align with the quarterly Community Liaison Group meetings.

This project has a long history which is detailed below:

The resource consent applications were publicly notified and subject to a lengthy appeal process in the Environment Court.

During this time, the Dam Safety Guidelines were updated, and the 2016 Kaikoura earthquakes occurred. Both events led to a request from the Environment Court for a thorough review of the dam design. In addition, the Environment Court required that the design be peer reviewed by a panel of internationally recognised engineers with expertise in their specific disciplines.

Following the completion of the Environment Court process the building consent was updated by way of formal amendment to ensure consistency between the relevant consents.

On 10 April 2019, the Environment Court issued a second interim decision foreshadowing the granting of consent (subject to the Court being satisfied regarding additional matters) and on 28 August 2020 the Court made a final decision to grant consents subject to conditions being met.

Our document library includes the 2019 Environment Court Interim Decision that provides a detailed explanation and response to the evidence provided by both parties The document library also includes the 2020 Environment Court Final Decision that outlines all the consent conditions BHSL is required to comply with pre, during and post construction.

BHSL will implement the resource consents and building consent in accordance with the Design Report (Version 6), the consent conditions and various management plans. BHSL is also required to comply with the NZSOLD 2024 guidelines. Once operational, BHSL will need to comply with the requirements of the Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2022.

Damwatch, the dam designer, has confirmed that the more recent NZSOLD 2024 guidelines and the Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2022 do not result in any required changes to the existing dam design.

All dam safety related plans will be prepared in compliance with the consents and the Building (Dam Safety) Regulations 2022.

BHSL is the company that will own, construct and operate the Wrights Road Storage Ponds. BHSL is a standalone company and not a subsidiary of WIL, although there is a strong relationship between the two companies. Specifically:

• All BHSL shareholders must be WIL shareholders, which means that the use of stored water is strictly governed by existing policies and regulations to ensure environmental outcomes and targets are met.
• BHSL will use WIL’s water race infrastructure to deliver stored water to BHSL’s shareholders.
• BHSL does not have any employees. All BHSL’s management, administrative and operational functions are carried out by, or managed by, WIL under a formal Services Agreement.
• During the proposed three-year construction phase the BHSL Board will mostly comprise WIL Directors, and post construction, BHSL will appoint its own Board that will include WIL representation.