Rotorua floods: Residents call for more street maintenance

Some Glenholme residents affected by last month's floods believe more street maintenance is needed.

Three homeowners on Holland St say, in their opinion, a lack of council street maintenance was a large contributor to the April 29 flooding.

Holland St flooding on April 29. Photo/Supplied

Rotorua Lakes Council says contractors operate ongoing maintenance programmes at contracted levels of services.

Residential roads are swept every six months (a few which have more leaf fall than others may have extra sweeping during autumn).

Cesspits or stormwater grates (there are about 5200 across the city) are checked every two years and must be able to receive stormwater. There are ongoing inspections and maintenance of stormwater systems.

Leaf removal is done annually and the council runs a community project during autumn whereby it provides bags for residents to collect leaves and then disposes of these.

One resident, pensioner Christine Swindell, said she had asked the council five times in the past five years for the drainage holes and culverts to be improved, and better maintained around her part of the street.

But she believed there had been no progress.

"They suggested I paid for a drain in my yard. I cannot afford that kind of thing. I'm a pensioner."

Christine Swindell and her dog Poppy in their flood-damaged Glenholme home. Photo/Ben Fraser

Swindell said in the August 2014 flooding in Rotorua her wheelie bins "floated down the driveway" but her home inside was spared.

But this time, on April 29, she said it was much worse.

"I rang the council as soon as possible. They were very busy which I can understand. The fire service was called and when they arrived the water was calf deep. You couldn't even see the drainage grates."

She said when the fire service opened the grates "you could see big blockages of leaves".

"The drainage system just could not handle it."

The water rose into her home through the patio doors and the garage at opposite ends of her house.

She had put in new carpet just five days prior and is now working through the insurance process.

Her home has been deemed uninhabitable, but she and her dog Poppy are "refusing to leave".

"We just prefer it here," she said.

Christine Swindell's "Insanitary Building Notice". Photo/Samantha Olley

"The council is being good about offering accommodation, but I want the people in charge of the road and the drainage system down here finding out why it happened," she said.

"I keep the leaves cleaned away but it's not like the whole street does. Certainly, something needs to be done about them, but whose problem is it?"

Two other residents in the street spoke on condition they were not identified.

One of them said: "We went down to clear the drains with some friends on the morning of the floods. The street had just been sealed and there were stones all over the place. The water wasn't going anywhere and the backwash was horrendous," she said.

She also believed the existing pipes needed to be cleaned out more often.

Her home had a "river" either side of it when she woke up on the day of the flooding and there was water over her ankles in her conservatory.

Her home has $10,000 worth of damage, $8000 of which will be covered by insurance.

The other anonymous home owner is not yet sure what her repair bill will be but she is fully insured.

Repairs at Homeowner 2's property. Photo/Supplied

"We had just finished decorating," she said.

"The water just seeped in and around this house because the road was so full. It came through the cat door and just started flooding.

"My husband leaped out of bed and grabbed a large plastic bag. He filled it with debris that was blocking the grate. We have always been aware of the build-ups and we go out regularly to clean the leaves away."

Her home had been deemed uninhabitable so she was now staying in a nearby motel.

Repairs at Homeowner 2's property. Photo/Supplied

In her opinion, the street "needs gutters and pipes cleared regularly" to prevent further damage in torrential rain.

"We need to channel our energy to keep Rotorua dry and safe, rather than creating masses of cycleways," she said.

"From my experience, three-quarters of the people that live on these Glenholme streets are elderly. I have paid rates for 51 years - I do not expect our needs to be ignored like this."

Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure group manager and primary civil defence controller Stavros Michael said in a written response: "Assessing current systems and how we can prevent or minimise future risk is something that will follow the recommendations of the independent panel being set up to look at what happened and what contributed to the April 29 event".

"We expect the findings will help guide future infrastructure planning and decision-making for the whole district," he said.

Michael said the city's storm water and sewage systems worked as they were designed to do during the April 29 flooding but some areas were overwhelmed during the peak rainfall period between 10am and 11am that day.

NIWA figures showed 51.8mm of rain fell in that hour, the wettest hour in Rotorua since records began, and just under 57mm falling in the three hours before that.

"Holland St and the surrounding area is low-lying so there is a pump station in Tilsley St to pump water out during rainfall events if necessary. The two pumps in the station are automated and were operating as they are designed to do for the duration of the April 29 event.

"The station was overwhelmed during the peak rainfall period and with systems across the city full or overflowing at once, the water had nowhere to go. It drained away quite quickly as soon as there was capacity in the system again".

This week Michael said: "Mrs Swindell was visited by a stormwater engineer on Friday May 18 to discuss her concerns in detail".

"The event far exceeded the capacity of our systems and we will need to consider whether we need to increase that capacity. What happened on April 29 was a one in 105-year event and with all systems full, water still coming down had nowhere to go."

He said the council was happy to speak with residents directly to discuss their concerns.

"We understand that some residents may be anxious following the recent flooding."