24 April 2014

Christchurch City Council to set up flooding taskforce

The Christchurch City Council is establishing a task force dedicated to improving the flood risk across the city, in response to recent floods.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel says she welcomes the setting up of a task force to deal with what is a very complex issue that needs everyone involved to get engaged.

“Flooding is a huge issue for the city,” she said. “Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and things will be changing even in the next 10 to 20 years.

“We can’t just leave people sitting for two years. It’s important for people to get certainty, so we will be getting individual reports for each area on the causes of flooding in that area, with options about how we address immediate needs on a temporary basis while the longer term solutions are considered.

“This will give people a degree of comfort.”

The task force is to report to the council in three weeks, setting out these options.

For example, temporary options may include water-proofing the first metre of flood prone building with temporary flood barriers and installing non-return valves on sewer connections.

“The Prime Minister’s recent announcement the city would be able to use some of the residential red zone land to move stopbanks, and redesign water, waste water and stormwater networks could not be more timely,” says Ms Dalziel.

“This will really help the city get the solutions it needs.”

Although the task force will look at drainage issues across the whole city, it will also focus on known flood prone areas such as Shirley (Flockton), Woolston, Heathcote Valley, Lyttelton, Little River and Akaroa, and any other affected areas.

ENDS

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