A range of stormwater projects in Waihī Beach will proceed to the next step after Council gave their approval to bring projects and some planned budget forward.
A total of 75 projects, big and small, were presented to Western Bay of Plenty District Council following collaboration between Council’s stormwater engineering team and the new Waihī Beach community liaison group.
The expedited projects come after the team we’re asked to investigate and reprioritise the planned stormwater projects after flooding swept through parts of Waihī Beach on 29 May.
This means the Waihī Beach community will see more work done to address their stormwater concerns immediately, with some simple jobs taking place now and many more to progress into design and investigation over the next one to three years.
Small stormwater projects and drainage maintenance will be underway now with funding from existing budgets. The larger and more complex projects have been brought forward to concept and initial design phase. The budget and timing of these projects will be part of the next Long Term Plan community kōrero, open for discussion with the wider community.
Council's lead for Waihī Beach stormwater projects, James Abraham says that the projects have been categorised into three different groups to indicate the level of complexity and in what timeframe they could be done.
Category 1. Roll out in the next 12 months.
These projects are made up of operational improvements, small capital projects or issues that need further investigation. A key project within this category is creating an updated risk-based dam management procedure in collaboration with the community liaison group. This is a project we’re all keen to get underway so that everyone knows and agrees on how the dam will be managed from now on.
Category 2. Move straight to design and then implementation.
This category is for slightly more complicated projects or where consent or landowner negotiations are required. For example, the improvements to the Darley Drain fall into this category.
Category 3. Investigation and optioneering to begin now.
These projects are complex and need in-depth consideration of all options to find the preferred option. The best combination of these projects will proceed to design. This includes major upgrades with possible landowner negotiation, such as investigation of whether attenuation in upper catchment of Two Mile Creek is feasible and what effect it may have.
“We’re keen to make some progress on all the projects, starting now. Of course, this doesn’t mean we’ll resolve the flooding issues in Waihī Beach. Some parts of town will always have a level of flooding because of the low-lying nature of the land, but these projects will certainly assist,” says James.
“We plan to keep the wider community up to date on project progress through a new webpage hub for all Waihī Beach stormwater projects.
“We’d like to thank the community liaison group for collaborating on this project list with us. The intel that they provided has been invaluable and will lead to better solutions for the community – so thank you.”
Other project works that have already begun include
- A contractor has been engaged to improve the overland flow of stormwater and prevent flooding at 23 Browns Drive.
- Engineers will be surveying the Waihī Beach Dam to assess current available capacity of the dam when it’s empty.
- Flood hazard risks at Council’s elder housing flats and Tasman Holiday Parks at Beach Road and Leo Street, are being assessed by Tonkin & Taylor.
- Two Mile Creek erosion protection works have been delayed to 1 November due to the need for a consent variation. An extension to this project area to Te Mata Reserve and further funding was also approved by the Council.
To see the full list of projects and follow progress, visit our dedicated Waihī Beach stormwater webpage.
