Of course our issue is we want a growing, dynamic city that people want to live and work in, and of course come to visit, and some don’t want rates rising every year.
The big problem in our city along with many areas around New Zealand is that we have a major, very costly problem that in the very near future will stop growth and stop tourism, not just in Dunedin but everywhere in New Zealand.
That problem is water infrastructure.
Dramatic floods sell news, we all know this. Being regularly caught up in dramatic flooding news stories I am increasingly aware of some members of our society who take these dramatic events and without consulting local people who live and work in the area of flooding make grandiose statements about climate change being the cause of our disasters.
I and many others across New Zealand who are faced with ongoing flooding of our homes and industries have been subjected time and time again to political parties and people who are quick to use climate change (which I don’t deny is happening) as a convenient reason to deny old and/or undersized pipes and pumping stations are a major issue, or that flood gates and valves were not used in time to prevent or decrease flooding because of the council’s poor judgement at the time, or because regulatory factors had to be followed before releasing water which delayed and caused more severe flooding which was a catalyst to homes and industries being inundated.
Other causes of flooding in parts of New Zealand are caused by slash from forestry getting caught up in flood waters or blocking the movement of waterways and thus causing tremendous damage. Often this is again a council’s fault for not using regulatory powers to ensure the industry is cleaning up properly after harvesting and thus mitigating risk to local homes and businesses.
MPs and councils are also adept at skewing the facts the suit their narrative. Many articles are written by them — lumping floods around New Zealand into the single problem of the phrase ‘‘Climate change’’.
However if you ask the locals who live in the areas of flooding they have a different narrative. They may tell you, for example, that council inaction and a plethora of rules and regulations in the council was responsible for the latest Akaroa flooding. Forestry slash left and unchecked by council inspectors caused unnecessary flooding in Queenstown and parts of the West Coast. Our own flood damage was caused, as you know, by decades of not investing in infrastructure which would prevent all flooding in Dunedin and Mosgiel. By infrastructure I also mean flood banks and other very simple and cost-effective means of diverting land to drain without draining into habitations, businesses and industry.
It continues to amaze me that the cost of every clean up costs every person in New Zealand in taxes, rates or insurance levels being raised. That the taxes and rates instead of being put towards continual stormwater and sewage infrastructure development is used for the ‘‘clean up and repair’’.
Meanwhile uniformed and uneducated people jump on a band wagon of ‘‘this is a result of climate change’’ when in fact it is a result of neglect of both infrastructure and a plethora of rules and acts which paralyse action when it is an emergency.
Our council recently spoke about the great climate change work being done at the University of Otago by researchers. I and many other people in Dunedin really don’t see how this research is of any benefit to us.
We have seen no factual evidence to show climate change is causing our flooding across not only South Dunedin but many other parts of Dunedin and outer suburbs. What we do have factual information on is the piping infrastructure, the undersized treatment stations and the pumping station not pumping out the volume of water it could do as much of the floodwaters never reach it because the stormwater pipes leak into the sewer pipes which then blow their lids, contributing to the water volume on roads and properties.
Also because they are undersized much of the stormwater does not go into the pipes as they are full. It stays on the land, increasing the level of water that makes its way into our properties. We also have factual information of the amount of land that has been converted from permeable land to impermeable land, land now covered with hard surfacing or buildings. A conservative estimate is over 80% since 20 years ago. Now what does that tell you?
Council decisions over the last few decades by misguided mayors and councillors supporting their mayors has led to us having more flooding and continued millions of dollars spent on cleaning up and repairing damage. All of which comes from our rates and we pay the insurance excesses if we are able to afford the insurance.
• Lynne Newell is a spokeswoman for the Surrey St Flood Action Group and South Dunedin Stormwater Justice Group.
