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A former top financial staffer has expressed concerns the council she once represented is not standing by its flood protection promises.
Tanea Hawkins returned to the Environment Southland chamber as a member of the public on Wednesday, 14 months after finishing up as its chief financial officer following more than seven years in the role.
She expressed frustration over the length of time it had taken her former employer to respond to flood-related issues raised in May, and a lack of answers to some questions.
Ms Hawkins said the council’s long term plan had committed to improving levels of service for flood resilience in Winton and Lumsden, but questioned if those would be reached under agreed Kānoa projects.
“Council cannot change that commitment to the community,” Ms Hawkins said.
“It is a requirement of the Local Government Act that a consultation occur if significant levels of service changes occur subsequent to a plan being consulted and agreed.”
Ms Hawkins’ unease sparked a follow-up meeting with new chief executive Stephen Hall and chair Jeremy McPhail on Thursday, with the latter saying it was a “real concern” if the council had not done what was promised through its long term plan.
The Wednesday presentation followed similar efforts from Ms Hawkins in late May when she presented to two committees on consecutive days.
A report she prepared for those meetings highlighted frequent nationwide flooding, a previous lack of investment in Southland’s almost 500km of floodbanks and a lack of reporting on those assets.
Ms Hawkins claimed a multimillion-dollar budgeted expenditure for community resilience never happened, and was disappointed the council had deferred a substantial rates increase even though it had already identified a need to do so.
She was also concerned to discover in a May agenda that major flood protection and control work was on hold while the council reviewed its methods for tackling the issue.
“Is this not a complete abandonment of any urgency to protect life and property from known risks?” she wrote.
The council responded with a lengthy letter of its own which acknowledged it did not have a good understanding of its flood resilient assets at the start of the long-term plan cycle.
Work had gone into improving that, and the council had successfully recruited and secured Kānoa funding.
The catchment committee now met more frequently and included all councillors, the council said.
Flood resilience was a top priority and investment in flood infrastructure had been preserved amid the “modest” rates increase, the council said.
Cr Maurice Rodway said at Wednesday’s meeting he was disappointed Ms Hawkins was not satisfied by the council’s letter because a lot of time had gone into it.
He hoped Thursday’s meeting with Mr McPhail and Mr Hall would resolve any issues.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.