SUBSCRIBER: Surrey St group calls on ombudsman
In a letter to the Ombudsman last month, Surrey Street Flood Action Group convener Lynne Newell described a series of issues from the council and other agencies which she said contributed to long-standing community harm.
The issues also contributed to mistrust in the city council’s wastewater and stormwater programmes and loss of trust in the Otago Regional Council and Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ), she said.
"This decades-old and ongoing problem results in raw sewage-contaminated water discharging on to private properties, creating environmental hazards and serious health risks."
The city council and HNZ told the Otago Daily Times they were aware of the complaint. The regional council said it was not but would "engage constructively" with the process.
A spokeswoman from the Ombudsman’s office said the matter was being assessed and, under legal requirements surrounding inquiries, she could not comment further.
Meanwhile, the regional council is close to wrapping up its own investigation on the wastewater issue.
It launched a compliance investigation into the city council after receiving a formal complaint about wastewater in Surrey St in May.
Regional council chief executive Richard Saunders said the matter was "long-standing and complex".
Information had been requested from the city council and expert wastewater consultants were supporting the high-priority investigation, he said.
Updates, when available, were being provided to the group and the council would advise of the investigation’s outcome when it concluded, expected to be before next month.
Any decision on any further action would be taken in line with the council’s compliance and enforcement policy.
City council Three Waters, property and urban development general manager David Ward said it was aware of the regional council’s investigation and was "co-operating fully" - including by sharing information on the cause of overflows and plans to manage and resolve issues.
The wastewater network concerned was more than 50 years old, Mr Ward said.
"We have been undertaking renewals across our Three Waters network in recent years that will benefit South Dunedin and Surrey St, and more work is planned, but we are also working carefully towards a long-term solution.
"It is a complicated issue and we need to have a comprehensive understanding of the options, the best solutions, and the knock-on impacts of these changes across the network, before we invest the many millions involved in large-scale projects."
