Cull rejects MP's criticism of flood handling

Dave Cull
Dave Cull
Mayor Dave Cull has hit back at criticism of the handling of Dunedin's $30million flood by Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran.

Ms Curran, speaking on Thursday, accused Civil Defence staff of being ''asleep on the job'' and called for independent audits of the city's Civil Defence preparedness and stormwater infrastructure.

Her comments followed the release of a summary debriefing document examining the handling of the flood, which highlighted communication breakdowns and organisational inadequacies in the emergency response.

Mr Cull was not available for comment on Thursday, but yesterday rejected Ms Curran's calls for independent audits, saying the work had ''already been done''.

Clare Curran
Clare Curran
The debriefing on the handling of the emergency response, headed by Peter Cameron, of the Ministry of Civil Defence, in Wellington, had already identified ''things we could improve'', Mr Cull said.

Dunedin City Council staff had also undertaken ''a tremendous amount of work'' since the flood to identify issues with the city's water infrastructure, he said.

That had resulted in a ''very complex'' report, which was yet to be made public but would be presented to next month's full council meeting, he said.

He queried how Ms Curran could question the work of council staff without first seeing the report.

''I'm confident, having spoken to the staff . . . that it will be absolutely thorough.

''It has been looked into very carefully.''

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

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