Residents Armed To Fight Whangamata Flooding Issues

By John Freer

The meeting room had to be changed as the original choice could not cater for the numbers.

This appeared to inject new life into the Whangamata Ratepayers Association today, organisers being overwhelmed by the number of people fronting to discuss flooding issues across their town.

A rough count had somewhere between 140 and 150 people attending, the vast majority have experienced some type of flooding event around their property.

Five people told their story on how the flood waters had destroyed their homes and holiday homes. Many put forward their opinion on why – most focussed on roads that had been built above the level of their homes, as a result their property became a ponding area in storms.

Others talked about a stormwater system which was outdated and could not cope with the infill housing, which had been permitted since the system was installed.

Everyone in the room had had enough – but they all remained calm and soaked up the information provided on potential ways forward.

Association chairman Rob Boston said the stormwater system was broken and it was never designed for the current number of houses in the town.

Ian Holyoake provided a comprehensive report covering everything from planning regulations to potential actions – he held everyone’s attention throughout.

The outcome – the community agreed to use the council processes around annual planning submissions and petitions. One resident did recommend that the residents should attend the annual planning submissions on mass.

Click the link below to hear a full interview with Whangamata Ratepayers Association chairman Rob Boston.