Those stormwater pipes may be legal

A drainage pipe sticking out of a cliff edge between Murrays Bay and Mairangi Bay on the North Shore. Picture / Dean Purcell

Jutting stormwater pipes might look terrible, but that doesn't mean they are illegal.

White plastic pipes poke out all along the cliffs of North Shore beaches like Murrays Bay and Mairangi Bay, and while unsightly, may be functioning to the letter of the law when it comes to getting stormwater off someone's property.

"At this stage, it is unclear they are illegal," said Frank Tian, the North Shore City Council stormwater operations manager. "It is very difficult to make a single judgment.'

Mr Tian said many of the cliff-top homes had been built some time ago and had the appropriate building consents for the day.

"Maybe those consents didn't specify where they [the pipes] should go."

He said the council bylaw on stormwater did not go into specifics about how they looked.

It says property owners must maintain the pipes and gutters of the stormwater system on their premises in good operating condition.

Mr Tian said intended use was as a guideline, "not to punish people".

"We have to think about the implications of using the bylaw in a proactive way. We have 80,000 properties to look out for."