Council Decisions

Council Decisions: Stormwater

WRSAG has been reviewing where we have been provided information, councils decision making process. Our concern is hundreds of thousands, likely millions, has been spent on consultants yet we haven’t been shown these reports until we have lodged LGOIMA requests and there are still many withheld. What is the cost to benefit council has provided?

Our Summary of Decisions:

Note one decision since 2003 has been completed as part of a master plan for the betterment of our community at large.
Likely well over $1-2M has been spent on expert reports - conjecture but is spending in the hope the next report will not require work
Council policy is to withhold expert reports until community find out about them
Council uses the 'public excluded' code when it should be engaging as per the significance and engagement policy
Money being spent on the decisions being made is not spent wisely
Land continues to be developed even though council is well aware flooding mitigation measures must be in place first.
Council is paralized by the fear of not having an expert making every decision
Council has failed to keep a list of priorities
Put restrictions on people who ask questions that are embarrassing to council

The NZ Auditor General (OAG) held a concern in 2018 and completed a report on how councils were dealing with stormwater. Download reports here 2018 Auditor General Stormwater Report . TCDC was one of three councils reviewed. My summary is councils’ response to flooding has been to order a consultant report and then do nothing. These are the main findings by OAG in 2018.

OAG Main findings
To date, the three councils have had an incomplete understanding of the flood risk in their districts. Much of their assessment of flood risk has been based on information collected after a flood. This reactive approach risks councils focusing on reducing the effects of the most recent flood, rather than considering all possible flooding events and their effects. It also means that they cannot forecast accurately, and risk being poorly prepared for unanticipated events.
The three councils have gaps in their understanding of the current state of their stormwater systems. These gaps limit their ability to make well-informed and deliberate decisions about how to manage those systems.
This means that the councils are unlikely to have had informed conversations with their communities about the potential risk of flooding and the cost of reducing that risk.
Councils are planning to continue spending less than depreciation on renewing stormwater assets, which might indicate that they are under-investing in maintaining those assets. If nothing changes, the underinvestment will increase the risk of stormwater systems being unable to cope with rainfall that results in flooding.
The three councils were already aware of some of the issues we identified and are planning improvements.
These councils are at varying stages of making improvements. However, all three have more to do.

It is important to see this approach changed into one of action in key flood areas to correct under-investment. Whilst flood modelling has some importance it is not a reason to wait or not take action to areas that knowingly flood at every rain. We are yet to see what the modelling is for and how it will assist prioritising works.

The following table lists some of councils’ decisions uncovered since 2003. We would be pleased for any input or amendments, so this becomes a correct record of decisions to date. We have asked council to provide a list of stormwater work since 2003 but been supplied nothing.

We agree with the OAG statement having informed conversations with their communities is the way to create trust and enlisting support. It is WRSAG belief engagement as stakeholders directly with staff is an honour and if done with openness and transparency would engender goodwill and better outcomes for community.

Sending out flood letters is not a conversation. Setting up the working group was a step forward but council has failed to provide reports, engage openly or comply with councils Significance and Engagement Policy.

Tables of decisions - you may have a different view. Be pleased to hear your experiences.