Waihī Beach stormwater information session open to all

Do you have a pātai about Waihī Beach’s stormwater system or want to kōrero on our plans to protect Two Mile Creek from further erosion? Join us at a community information session dedicated to answering your questions.

In the aftermath of the recent floods, Western Bay of Plenty District Council is inviting everyone to come and kōrero with the Council team about stormwater in Waihī Beach on Monday 19 June.

The stormwater information session will be your chance to

• Ask the Council team questions about the stormwater system in Waihī Beach – what’s happened historically and what’s planned in the future
• Learn why the 29 May flooding did so much damage
• Find out more about an upcoming stormwater project to protect Two Mile Creek from erosion

Stormwater information session details:

• Date: Monday 19 June
• Time: 3-6pm
• Location: Waihī Beach Community Centre
• The Katikati-Waihī Beach Community Forum scheduled for Wednesday 14 June at the Bowentown Boating and Sport Fishing Club has been cancelled, providing us time to prepare for this information session

Council Deputy CEO and General Manager Infrastructure Group, Gary Allis says that it’s natural for everyone to have questions following the flash flooding on 29 May.

“One hour of intense rainfall has caused substantial damage, left our community in shock and given us all an enormous mess to clean up.

“This event will take a lot of time to recover from, but now that the immediate danger has passed, we’d like to use this opportunity to address people’s concerns and talk about the causes of flooding and the effects it has on your community.”

Councils’ stormwater network was simply unable to respond to an event of that magnitude on 29 May - there were no failures in the stormwater system it was overcome by the amount water and by the following day the stormwater system had returned to normal levels.

Typically, Council’s piped stormwater network is designed to cater for a one in five-year storm event and the overland flow path (where the stormwater should flow when the underground pipe network can no longer cope) is designed for a one in 50-year storm event. The event experienced in May was higher than what the system has been designed for.

Two Mile Creek

We’ll also be showing the community our plans to protect Two Mile Creek from further erosion, with contractors, engineers, and the Council team on hand to discuss what we’re planning.

This is an important project as there’s no alternative waterway to direct stormwater down and properties either side have already suffered from erosion.

“During heavy rain spells, a huge amount of water hits the ground looking for somewhere to go,” says Gary.

“That water has to get out to the ocean somehow, and the best, safest and only way for that to happen is via Two Mile Creek. And because the creek backs onto one of Waihī Beach’s main thoroughfares, there’s significant public benefit in protecting the land.”

The Two Mile Creek stream protection project will see local firm Beach Contractors placing rock armouring along a 320m section of Two Mile Creek to protect this important waterway from erosion.

The work will take place on most properties from 45 Edinburgh, downstream to the Dillon Street bridge, and on the opposite side of the creek with properties along Wilson Road.

The project will take place over a year, with work stopping to allow for fish migration from August and again over the summer holiday period.

The project is part of Council’s Stormwater Strategy, which the public shared their thoughts on through the Long Term Plan 2015-25. The works are being funded by the Stormwater Uniform Targeted Rate due to the importance of Two Mile Creek in the wider stormwater network for Waihī Beach.

Further information on Two Mile Creek can be found at westernbay.govt.nz/two-mile-creek

If you can't make it to the info session but have a question for our team email us.