KEY POINTS:
Sewage overflows at St Heliers and other city beaches will occur for years longer than planned under big stormwater cuts proposed by Mayor John Banks and his Citizens & Ratepayers allies.
Mr Banks tore into former Mayor Dick Hubbard in front of Eastern Bays residents at last year's local body elections for pumping "human body waste" longer than necessary on to the local beaches. He promised voters to improve beaches and water quality.
Now Mr Banks looks set to extend the period of overflows at the popular beaches. What's more, the new policy is being overseen by local eastern bays councillor Doug Armstrong, whose job as finance committee chairman it is to hold council rates to the rate of inflation.
Mr Banks' council is proposing to slash the stormwater budget from $35 million next year, rising to $46 million in 2016, to $22.5 million a year.
The city's stormwater assets are valued at $1.3 billion.
Officers have warned the $35 million budget could handle a cut of up to $3 million without affecting overflow reductions, but anything more "would impact on agreed outcomes". They are working on the impact of a $22.5 million budget.
The cuts are driven by the phasing out of the controversial "charitable payments" from the council-owned water company, Metrowater, and a sharp fall in stormwater development contributions.
The council received just $3.8 million in contributions last year against a budget of $8.5 million. The economic recession is expected to result in less revenue this year.
Mayor Banks said yesterday that he was on track to get rid of charitable payments this term - budgeted at about $25 million a year when he came to office - and was committed to holding rates to inflation.
"But there is a downside and that is less wastewater-stormwater separation," he said.
Mr Banks said the proposed stormwater budget of $22.5 million was about the same he spent in the last year of his previous mayoral term. The 2004-2005 annual report shows the spend was $26.9 million.
He said the council was going to place more emphasis on cleaning up streams that ran into the harbour and less emphasis addressing property flooding.
Papers obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act show the previous council pushed back plans to reduce wastewater overflows at the city beaches from 2027 to 2033.
The plan would see the number of overflows at the most popular eastern bays swimming beaches reduced to one a year. At other beaches and waterways, the number of overflows would be cut to two or 12 times a year.
The plan also addressed flooding to 1250 properties and reduced overflows into Tamaki Estuary.
At the time, Metrowater supported the 2027 timeline but the council favoured the slower programme in order to receive larger charitable payments.
