Mal Parker contacted the Otago Daily Times last week regarding wastewater discharges during heavy rain in Somerville St, saying overflowing sewers had become part of life there.
"All the s... is all over the roads and cars and fences," he said.
"So I know what Surrey St are going through. I really do and I feel for them. But they shouldn’t be the only ones that are getting something done."
The Dunedin City Council said it was not aware of capacity issues in the Andersons Bay wastewater network but was happy to discuss Mr Parker’s concerns with him.
Members of the Surrey Street Flood Action Group claimed a win last week after the Otago Regional Council issued an abatement notice over sewage overflows in select Forbury streets.
The city council has until June 2027 to stop wastewater discharges in the area.
Mr Parker and his wife moved into their Somerville St home in 1972 and, over five decades, have compiled a folder, several inches thick, of letters, reports and newspaper clippings on wastewater flooding.
The earliest document, a letter dated July 4, 1977, is addressed to the Drainage and Sewerage Board.
In it, Mr Parker lays out his "strong disapproval" over the "obvious and unnecessary health problem" the sewage posed, despite numerous telephone and personal calls to the town hall in the previous five years.
Foul water entered their home a few times before it was lifted and a tidal stream at the property’s rear also contributed to flooding before the council made it deeper and wider.
Proposal solutions to overflows, such as a stormwater holding pond, never eventuated and he was concerned narrowing of wastewater pipes in lower Somerville St contributed to the problem, Mr Parker said.
The council also continued to consent new builds, which put additional pressure on the wastewater network, he said.
"We’d thought many times about selling, but obviously we couldn’t.
"You couldn’t do that to people."
The documentation trailed off around 2015 and these days he had largely stopped telling the council about issues in his street, Mr Parker said.
"They know it goes on, but a lot of them just put their head in the sand. They’re not terribly interested," he said.
"There’s people talking about lifting their homes over [in Surrey St]. They shouldn’t bloody have to. The council should be doing it."
He said he sometimes lay awake at night during heavy rain or was up clearing the top of mud tanks.
"It doesn’t happen all the time, but you can look out the front window right on to one of the manhole covers and you can see it bubbling out."
"It’s just part of our life. It shouldn’t be."
Council Three Waters group manager John MacAndrew said the council was not aware of capacity issues in Somerville St’s wastewater system.
In the past five years, it recorded one wastewater-related callout in the area, in March 2022.
"We use a consented wastewater pumping station on Marne St to relieve any pressure on the area’s network during significant weather events," Mr MacAndrew said.
Three stormwater-related callouts were lodged over the same period.
The council knew of stormwater capacity issues in the Somerville St-Marne St area, which caused surface flooding during heavy rainfall and king tides.
"These can affect our network and also a large private watercourse in the area, which we help to address when issues occur."
Mr MacAndrew said the council was happy to meet Mr Parker to discuss his concerns.
