The Stormwater Drain

The proposed options by the Civil Engineers

There's no stormwater pipe running across the property so as part of the subdivision conditions I needed to address this issue. I always knew this and engaged a civil engineer to propose a solution. 

The civil engineers came up with two options. The first one was to run a stormwater pipe through the rear neighbours yard to connect to the stormwater drain at the street behind. The second one was to dig a couple of soakage pits to catch any overflow.

The second option was definitely the better option. It was cheaper and wouldn't need to involve anyone else. Running a stormwater pipe through the neighbour's yard would require their permission and rectification to their yard. 

I had this proposal done on 13 October 2011. Yep, almost a year ago. To say I've been caught up in red tape is an understatement. Worse still, the application was delayed for so long, the code has since been changed and soakage pits are now not allowed and the stormwater "has to have a legal point of discharge". Basically it means the property MUST connect to a stormwater so my first option has now become my only option.

Luckily the owners of the property at the rear have been kind enough to give me permission to run the drain through their property. Without that consent, I wouldn't have even been granted the subdivision approval. The issue though, is the cost. The first quote is $3750 - yikes. I had budgeted around $2500 for the soakage pits, so I'm going to get a few more quotes to see if I can get that price down. Will also consider doing the rectification work myself to try and get it under budget.

Contingency budget is diminishing quickly. But at least we are getting some traction :-).