Many of us have had to put up with noisy neighbours, lots of cars coming and going, doors slamming, loud voices in the street or partying students. There can be road noise, container ships loading and unloading, aircraft flying low overhead.
But few folk have had to go through the nightmare which some Surrey St, Dunedin, residents have endured for more than a decade, of having their road used as a sewer overflow.
During heavy rains, when nearby wastewater systems become overloaded, raw sewage, toilet paper and sanitary products course down part of the street and through residents’ gardens. It is hard to appreciate the anguish they must go through every time significant rain is forecast.
This week, finally, some great news has been delivered for the beleaguered occupants who have literally had to put up with a lot of crap which nobody should have to bear. It comes in the form of action from the Otago Regional Council effectively telling the Dunedin City Council to get its act together.
According to the regional council’s abatement notice, which became public on Monday, the city council must stop the discharge of wastewater into Surrey St and adjacent thoroughfares by June 30, 2027.
Although that’s still 18 months away, the "overjoyed" Surrey Street Flood Action Group is welcoming the notice against the DCC, issued last month, as a milestone. Convener Lynne Newell, who with her neighbours has fought for fairness and sanity on the issue, said it was "the best Christmas present ever".
There can be no doubt of that. Ms Newell said she had to read the email three times before she realised the import of what had
happened.
The notice follows a compliance investigation by the regional council following a formal complaint in May. The investigation determined the city council’s discharges were in breach of the Resource Management Act.
The notice requires the city council to provide quarterly updates on the necessary upgrades. The ORC says it can make compliance inspections as necessary and the notice will be reviewed at an appropriate time.
Short-term work to reduce the volume and frequency of any future overflows was under way. However, heavy rain would still bring the network to peak capacity until the $60 million medium-term improvements in the nine-year plan would finally resolve the problems, he said.
Just a fortnight ago, several city councillors met with Surrey St residents to discuss the overflows. It was a free and frank discussion, Cr Jules Radich reported, though there were some harsh words. That is hardly surprising.
Cr Andrew Simms said the council’s response to the residents and the recent overflows was a disgrace and unquestionably the council owed them an apology.
We believe they do too. The council has not showed the inhabitants of Surrey St enough care and concern over the years. The effects of actual and envisaged inundation with sewage will have caused considerable mental angst. These residents have been put through the wringer.
Let us hope the regional council keeps a close eye on the DCC’s progress. In the meantime, we need to keep our fingers crossed that, during the next 18 months, there are no more significant rain events.
Our melting world
There's more gloom and doom on the changing climate front this week, with a study in Nature Climate Change presaging a grim future for New Zealand’s 3300 glaciers.
The 2015 Paris Agreement set a target for the world’s average temperature to rise by only 1.5°C by 2100, and at the most 2°C. Scientists say we have already breached the first target.
The study found if the world warms by 2.7°C, 87% of our glaciers will have melted entirely by 2100. With 4°C of warming, only 100 glaciers would still exist.
Many of us can picture how far the Franz Josef Glacier has retreated in recent decades. If we want to retain our spectacular glaciers, we have to do our utmost to keep emissions, and temperatures, down.
