Compensation, management concerns

Agricultural Minister Damien O’Connor talks to the Rooney family last week. PHOTOS: TONI WILLIAMS
Agricultural Minister Damien O’Connor talks to the Rooney family last week. PHOTOS: TONI WILLIAMS
Dairy farmer Laurence Rooney will likely be left with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of flood-damage on his Winchmore farm and it's left a bad taste in his mouth.

He predicts the half-a-million-dollar flood clean-up from the May 31 flood will result in a $1m loss of income and no chance of compensation.

The Government’s $4 million fund pays up to 50% of non-insured damage but only on productive land.

It is not the weather Mr Rooney is frustrated with, it is paying a river rate to Environment Canterbury for river management that he, and a growing number of others, say is not happening.

He said the issue had been raised at many subsequent flood-affected farmer events.

The herd would have been better-off with Mycoplasma bovis, there would have been compensation, he said.

Mr Rooney and wife Philippa farm alongside the north branch of the Ashburton River. Their farm took a hit when the river burst the river stopbank alongside their property in late-May.

It breached the bank, flowed through their decade-old house - rendering them homeless - and towards land where cows grazed. They were able to move them out of harm's way. But it was a scary time.

The torrent of water flowed on to grassed paddocks and ripped apart fencing, laneways, and anything not tied down.

The motors on the centre pivot were buggered, he said.

After cleaning up after  the May 31 floods, Laurence Rooney estimates he will only be able to use...
After cleaning up after the May 31 floods, Laurence Rooney estimates he will only be able to use 100ha out of 170ha of his land. PHOTOS: TONI WILLIAMS
Branches and rocks were strewn about from water which got up to two-metres high at peak.

The Rooneys had a fleeting visit from agricultural minister Damien O’Connor and Rangitata MP Jo Luxton last week.  It was Mr O'Connor's first to the farm since the event.

It was a brief stop, but Mr Rooney was able to voice his concerns.

“The more people that see the cock-up (of a lack of river management) the better,” he said afterwards.

It was ‘‘preventable’’.

A lot of work has been done in the past nine weeks by those on farm, those brought in, and with the added help of volunteers.

Environment Canterbury diggers were still working in the riverbed alongside the property.

After cleaning up after  the May 31 floods, Laurence Rooney estimates he will only be able to use...
After cleaning up after the May 31 floods, Laurence Rooney estimates he will only be able to use 100ha out of 170ha of his land. PHOTOS: TONI WILLIAMS
The couple, and their four young children, had been back in the house for the past week. They moved in with some new furniture but no carpet, curtains, or septic system, which were due this week.

But being home was better than being away from the farm, Mrs Rooney said.

Areas of the farm which were once productive green lands now look like riverbeds, even with new fencing and laneways.

Silt covers the land.

The milking shed is still out of action but calving has started, so they have temporarily farmed cows out for milking. They hope to be milking in their own shed by the end of the week.

Numbers in the herd had been reduced with some leased out temporarily, and another 90 older cows sold to help reduce stock numbers on-farm.

The farm will be able to use 100 ha out of 170ha once the cows were back, Mr Rooney said.

Environment Canterbury rivers manager Leigh Griffiths said ECan had a mandate from council to maintain flood protection assets for properties which formed a rating district.

It included protection works such as stopbanks, drains, groynes, spurs and other infrastructure such as plantings associated with river erosion, drainage and flood protection as well as ongoing maintenance.

‘‘We are confident that our flood protection infrastructure did its job based on (agreed) criteria, and cannot accept allegations of mismanagement or any responsibility. It’s important to note that if due to a significant weather event, flood flows exceed the capacity that the infrastructure is designed for, out-of-river flows are expected.

‘‘This was an unprecedented weather event with both long and intense periods of rainfall. In the Ashburton/Hakatere River catchment area the weather event was of a magnitude greater than everywhere else in the region. We cannot stress enough that this was potentially the most significant rainfall and river flow event on record in Ashburton since we’ve been recording this data,’’ she said.

‘‘Flood protection schemes are designed as holistic systems that may feature different levels of service throughout ... the stopbanks in the upper Ashburton scheme are built to manage about a 1-in-50 year flood and stopbanks closer to the town have higher levels of protection to about a 1-in-200 year standard.’’

ECan manages 59 river and drainage rating districts and in the 25 largest areas, and work with the community who voluntarily participate in river rating district liaison committees.

‘‘Members influence the overall direction of flood and erosion protection and drainage works in their area as well as the targeted rates set for each river. Targeted rates are the amounts contributed to the total cost of works by the landowners who receive the direct benefit of flood protection infrastructure, and are calculated as a percentage of their property value,’’ she said.

‘‘The decision about what level of protection can be provided is balanced against a sustainable level of financial contribution from the community for the works required.’’

The rating district each had agreed levels of service, which meant flood protection infrastructure was built and maintained to withstand a specific discharge of flood flow measured in cumecs (cubic metres of water per second) and/or they did particular activities e.g. planting or weed control.

Comments

Welcome to the free market Mr Rooney. If your business was damaged by the negligence of others as you claim, sue them. That is your remedy, not handouts from the taxpayer.
You state you will lose $millions in income from this one flood. OK, lets assume you're telling the truth... the corollary to that is that you've earned $millions in the past seasons without floods. So, how much of that did you put aside for a contingency fund to cover you in the event of a flood? I mean you're in business, in a region that any reasonable person would know is prone to flood damage, I assume you do risk assessment, I assume you have a risk management plan? I assume that while insurance for this type of natural disaster is very expensive, I also assume the claimed size of your loss is far, far greater , shan any premium may have been. Given the potential loss, sensible business management would demand some sort of risk mitigation.
I find your emotive pleas disingenuous and insulting to the NZ taxpayer. You're full of complaints about how your problems have been caused by the negligence of others but no suggestion of taking personal responsibility for bad business risk management,

 

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