12 April 2022
Media: Rotorua Daily Post
Topic: Weather preparations and stormwater infrastructure
Enquiry
I'm doing a story on the weather about to hit and seeking a response from the council around what it is doing to prepare and any advice for residents.
Also just for a right of reply:
Rotorua resident Chris Parnell, whose house flooded three weeks ago, said he appreciated the sandbags given by the council, he said it was a bandaid to the wider issue of stormwater drains that did not work properly.
"It's a frustrating thing because you're living with something that's not going to go away unless there's good spend on infrastructure."
"I'd say the council can't do anything to alleviate people's fears and worries, or actually fix the problem without significant investment."
**
Glenholme resident Ceryn Hutin's family of four hired a skip bin to dispose of furniture and family memorabilia destroyed in the flood three weeks ago.
The family got sandbags dropped off on Monday after requesting it from the council.
She said they spoke to the council after the initial floods and said they had to chase it up, with an official coming at the end of last week, two weeks after the floods.
Huntin said they were told, "basically, we have to figure out ourselves what we're going to do".
She said the options they had were lifting the house which was not financially viable or building a wall - neither guaranteed to work.
The family were also told by the council that someone from the consents team would be in touch to speak about further options but they had not heard from anyone yet.
She said the council told them that the house came with a 150-year flood warning when they bought it last year after it flooded in the 2018 storm.
"That's different to having one everyone four years."
She said there was "no accountability" with the council and she was "furious to my core" with how it was responding to the issue.
She said they would only consider moving when their youngest leaves home as they moved to be closer to town.
"To be honest, I wouldn't want to sell a house that's going to cause problems. That's not the right thing to do."
Response
The reporter was sent the same information Council provided to her colleague yesterday (which was published in today’s Daily Post) regarding what council is doing to prepare for the weather event and advice for residents.
The following additional response and information was also provided:
Re the statement from Ceryn Hutin re “the house came with a 150-year flood warning”, we think that should be “one in 50 years” rather than “150 years” but without knowing where that info came from we can’t say for sure so please check that.
From Stavros Michael, DCE Infrastructure and Environment:
Infrastructure is a priority for Council and $75 million is being invested in stormwater across the next 10 years with the central and western parts of Rotorua city among the priority areas for upgrades. We are waiting on the outcome of Government funding applications that, if successful, would enable us to deliver these upgrades sooner.
In recent years we have seen an increase in the frequency and severity of rainfall events and there are areas of our city that are more prone to flooding due to the topography. We understand the concern and anxiety this creates for affected residents and we are working towards long-term solutions that will help to lessen the risk of residential areas flooding.
We would encourage residents who are concerned to contact us to discuss any immediate assistance we may be able to provide and/or any potential viable, longer term solutions.
Further info:
More about the Government funding applications mentioned by Stavros: Stormwater investment is the focus of applications by Rotorua Lakes Council to the Government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund. Initially the applications focussed on the Eastern, Western and Central areas of Rotorua. Following the first round of the application process Council is able to proceed with the Western and Central area applications which totals almost $100 million. Council is awaiting the outcome of this funding. Work outlined in the applications includes the proposed development of detention dams to manage stormwater during weather events, upgrades to the stormwater pipe networks and improvements to pump stations.
General info about our district’s stormwater network:
Council looks after 284km of urban reticulated pipelines and 153km of open drains, and services three urban areas of Rotorua (Ngongotahā, city and eastern suburbs) as well as the Reporoa land drainage scheme.
- You can read Council’s 30 Year Infrastructure Strategy here
- Read more about stormwater in Rotorua here
- Read the 2021-2031 Long-term Plan here (infrastructure info starts at page 19)
Recent investment in stormwater infrastructure includes:
- King Street - $1.5 million invested in 2021 to improve flood control and support residential development
- Clayton Road - $2.1 million invested in 2020 to accommodate development and provide better management of stormwater during major weather events
- Linton Park - $7.5 million to rebuild the stormwater detention dam at Linton Park to enable residential growth, mitigate existing stormwater issues and prepare for the effects of climate change. This work is currently underway.