Plumber Darryl McDonald says the Kumeū River should be cleaned properly before considering moving the township. Photo / Michael Craig
Plumber Darryl McDonald says the Kumeū River should be cleaned properly before considering moving the township. Photo / Michael Craig
A local plumber says Kumeū‘s flooding issues would benefit from proper maintenance of the Kumeū River.
A council report found no viable solution, suggesting a $163 million dam as the only option.
Future Kumeū opposes current plans proposing relocating the town centre to higher ground.
A Kumeū plumber of over 50 years says the fundamental problem with the town’s long history of flooding is a lack of maintenance of the Kumeū River in northwest Auckland.
Darryl McDonald said a substantial cleaning of the river, not just someone with a pair of secateurs, but a machine on each side of the river, should be done so the water can flow through it.
“I can’t recall the last time I saw any work done on the Kumeū River from Waitakere through to Waimauku, let alone from Waimauku out to the Kaipara. The flow is restrictive, the water can’t get away. You get a substantial downpour and it’s got nowhere to go.
Kumeū after heavy rains brought flooding in 2021. Photo / Brett Phibbs
“It backs up, overflows, and comes down the main road and floods all the buildings,” he said.
McDonald said his business on the main road has flooded three times - “it’s not pretty” - saying clearing the river of debris is an option that should be tried.
The plumber said he was not against moving the low-lying town centre, but said that would be a “pretty drastic measure” without properly cleaning the river first.
Tom Mansell, head of sustainable partnerships for the council’s stormwater division Healthy Waters, said the council does not “clean” or “clear” streams but do things like remove critical blockages, some pest plants and spray weeds.
“We take the management and maintenance of waterways seriously,” said Mansell, saying the council does not have the resources to proactively manage 17,000km of streams.
“We don’t believe stream clearance would have a significant impact on the level of flooding that occurred in 2021 or 2023, these were extreme storms. While good stream maintenance will optimise stormwater conveyance in smaller storms, in a large flood event it will make little difference,” said Mansell.
He said the last inspection of the Kumeū River was done in December, the next inspection is planned for March/April this year, and extensive scrub and critical blockage clearance was done in 2024 along sections of the river.
More than 200 people packed into the Kumeū Community Centre on Monday night to discuss a report by Healthy Waters that found no viable or cost-effective solution to the town’s flooding problems.
The report found only one potentially viable solution - a $163 million large dam upstream from the township, which, if it broke, “would have catastrophic impacts” causing significant damage and risk to life.
The township of Kumeū is debating how to deal with severe floods. Photo / Michael Craig
The other two options were a $573m 70m wide, 2.8km extension to the town’s floodway, and a $295m 1.9km tunnel to divert water upstream of Kumeū village to WaitematāHarbour.
Rodney councillor Greg Sayers, who chaired the meeting, said council officers presented flood-risk solutions, talked about stronger consenting rules for building on flood plains, and measures already in place, like an early warning system to give people four hours' warning of a flood.
He believes there is no alternative now but to look at a managed retreat, and relocate the town centre to an appropriate location.
“I felt very sorry for the audience. It was disappointing news for them that the council can’t build an infrastructure solution to stop the town from flooding,” Sayers said.
John Duguid, the council’s planning general manager of planning, who attended the meeting, told the Herald that Healthy Waters' solutions would not be able to drop the flood water level enough, and reduce the flood risk for enough properties to make them feasible, saying the council is looking to strengthen rules for building in flood plains.
Kumeū-Huapai has a history of flooding stretching back to 1926 when the Kumeū Post Office flooded to a depth of 1.2m. Since then there have been five notable floods, and more recently floods in August 2021 and two floods in 2023.
John Francis would like to see culverts enlarged to reduce flooding. Photo / Michael Craig
John Francis, who owns Kumeū Garden Hub and Carriages Cafe, also wants to see Kumeū River cleaned properly and two culverts under the main road enlarged to reduce the risk of severe flooding.
The Carriages Cafe was flooded during the 2023 storms and repaired after an insurance payout, but Francis said he has been unable to lease it because it is in the path of a proposed rapid transit corridor.
Francis is a member of Future Kumeū, a group of local businesses and residents, who have gone to the Environment Court to oppose the rapid transit corridor through the town.
Future Kumeū is also opposed to the Kumeū Central Centre Plan, which envisages commercial and residential properties facing the river. They proposed their own concept plan, shifting the town centre to higher ground further north of Huapai on SH16, where about 6500 homes and 20,000 new residents are planned.
Carriages Cafe has been unable to reopen since the 2023 floods. Photo / Michael Craig
“The Future Kumeū plan includes a park and ride, supermarket, apartments and everything to make it work. That is what the community wants,” said Francis.
He said Supporting Growth - a collaboration between Auckland Transport and NZ Transport Agency - has drawn up the riverside town proposal with virtually no consultation and ignored community concerns about flooding.
Duguid said because there is no viable option for flood management, Duguid said the council no longer supports the Town Centre Plan for Kumeū-Huapai.
The council has identified land for housing and another centre to the west of the existing Kumeū-Huapai town centre, but significant transport, water and community are needed first, and any development is at least 25 years, he said.
“For now, we are clearing the stream more often to help water flow better during smaller storms. We are also testing new tools like a river-level alert system that will be piloted with community involvement in the coming months,” he said.
Craig Walker, who owns two blocks of land in the Kumeū flood plain and runs a building relocation business, also believes the Kumeū Central Centre Plan is wrong and needs rethinking, and is opposed to the route of the rapid transit corridor.
“Don’t get me wrong, we want that rapid transit corridor very much, but in the right place.
Craig Walker runs a building removal business at Kumeū. Photo / Michael Craig
“If Future Kumeū can eliminate the rapid transit plan through the main street of Kumeū it opens the books for future, sensible planning on the development of the Northwest.
“A brilliant outcome would be to see a bit of a pause on development plans and private partnership plans put on ice to allow a rational outcome,” said Walker.
He said things are getting to a tipping point with Healthy Waters drawing a line in the sand over no viable or cost-effective solution, which allows council planners to rethink plans for the town.
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