2 May 2018

Media: Rotorua Daily Post

Topic: Flood related issues - subsidence in Ngongotaha

Enquiry

- Many residents are cleaning their driveways and berms and simply scrapping the mud and silt left behind onto the road. How and when will the mud and silt on public land and roads be cleaned up?

People have been saying things on Facebook like serves them right for buying houses on swamp land.

- Are the previous issues with subsidence there related to the flooding in anyway? Did they make it worse?

- Is there concern the sheer amount of flooding, and water on the land could create additional subsidence in the future.

Response

From Mayor Steve Chadwick:

I want to emphasise that right now we need to focus on the most important part of the response which is those people who have been affected by Sunday's floods and how we assist them to get the help, support and advice they need to get them through this crisis.

We need people to tell us what they need so we can coordinate that assistance as soon as possible. Understanding why this happened will be part of a full debrief which will come later. Now is the time to focus on the people who need immediate assistance.

With regards to waterways, Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff are out in the field, checking and assessing and are already working with some of the affected landowners.