Dunedin (Tuesday, 26 June 2018) – Improving the South Dunedin community’s resilience to heavy rain events will be the focus of a public drop-in information session next week.

3 Waters Group Manager Tom Dyer says the DCC has organised the session as an opportunity for residents to find out more about what’s been done since the 2015 floods to improve community resilience, and what further work is planned.

“We know the community is well organised and prepared, and we have invested in improvements as well,” Mr Dyer says.

“We have installed a new, larger filter screen at the Portobello Road pumping station for faster cleaning and pumping. We have improved inspection, cleaning and maintenance regimes of mud tanks across the city. We’ve also made improvements to emergency response procedures, with more sandbags, door-knocking and emergency information centres during heavy rain events.

“We have begun planning major projects so that wastewater from the Kaikorai Valley area – currently piped through South Dunedin to the Tahuna treatment plant – will instead be piped to Green Island for treatment. This will lessen wastewater flooding in South Dunedin.

“A further $35 million is budgeted on flood reduction within South Dunedin over the next decade.

“We’re also currently looking closely at a more immediate option to reduce wastewater flooding in South Dunedin and we’ll be able to share more details about this at next week’s drop-in session.”

Mr Dyer says that even with all the work planned there will still be times when more rain falls than underground systems will cope with. In the medium to long term, rising sea and groundwater will increase flooding and ponding risks.

“We are committed to working with the community, the government and other experts to look at all the ways we can safely adapt to climate change. This drop-in session is part of that conversation with the community,” he says.

A letter drop inviting South Dunedin residents to the drop-in session will be delivered this week.

The drop-in session will be held from 2pm-7pm on Wednesday, 4 July, at the Blind Foundation’s rooms at 458 Hillside Road. Anyone is welcome to drop in any time between 2pm and 7pm to talk to staff from various DCC departments as well as Civil Defence Emergency Management personnel, ask questions and find out more information.

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