A Taieri dairy farmer says the reality is the people in Mosgiel have been sending water to his property, flooding it, yet he pays higher rates than them. Alan Scurr has been on his land in East Taieri for 53 years and said things had changed markedly at that time. When it rains now, it all ends up on his dairy farm and he has to bear the cost. That includes a regional council rates bill of near $50,000, which includes flood protection and drainage rates. The Otago Regional Council is proposing to change flood protection and drainage rates for many urban and rural properties in the Clutha and Taieri areas following concerns raised about fairness of targeted rate collection. Mr Scurr, 79, farms on flood-prone country on Riverside Rd between Gladstone and Bush Rds, though he has just sold up to a young couple. He is still helping out and guiding them into the property. He said it used to be that it rained, the ground got soaked and after a while some water runoff appeared. The wind came along, the ground dried off and pasture grew. But over the years things had changed — Mosgiel grew dramatically. “Those grass paddocks now have houses, roofs, driveways and not a lot of lawns, and also all the tar-filled roads leading to them. “Runoff from these developments has occurred to a large extent, both in frequency, and what I see more importantly, is the speed of runoff that occurs. “I farm on the banks of the Owhiro Stream, which feeds into the Taieri River. Heavy rain events are occurring more frequently with global warming. If the Taieri River is high, the floodgates stop the river flooding up the Owhiro. This works well.’’ But what is happening more often is the Owhiro Stream keeps filling up, spilling over the bank and flooding several properties. “What I’m saying is that the developer who seemingly thinks it’s his right to get rid of water should contribute more for that right through regional council rates. “If your neighbour had a stormwater connection and sent all this water into your place, how would you feel? This is what’s happening to us on a large scale.” All the new warehouses and industrial buildings, including the planned inland port, would only add to the problems, he said. The heavy rain early last month led to overflowing in Owhiro Stream and water completely covering Gladstone Rd. “We are a low property and water runs downhill so we are going to get water. We get that. But we pay tremendous rates. I paid out 50 grand last year. “But we have been subsidising people in town. I feel for those people too. I mean, people will say, ‘oh, dairy farms are going to afford it’. “OK, prices are good at the moment, but when prices drop, what we get comes down.” New owner Cody Cowley felt the catchment of the stream needed to be cleaned up, which might help water flow. The council has a public session about the new rating proposal in Mosgiel on Monday and Outram on Tuesday, both during the day and at night. Submissions on the changes close on September 11.
