Sandbagging on The Strand in Parnell as heavy rain hits Auckland, causing widespread flooding. Photo / Dean Purcell
This opinion piece was first written by our General Manager Cheryl Adamson for New Zealand Herald.
Retailers along The Strand in Parnell suffered enormous damage from the severe rain and floods that hit Auckland on January 27.
Many of the affected premises were high-end home decor retailers, some of which are still not trading.
The way each business dealt with its predicament was individual as much as it was collective. Some businesses experienced limited damage, either due to the type of stock (outdoor furniture for example) or due to various height levels within the store.
Other businesses lost every item of stock, and either have had to relocate for a period, or completely remanufacture all the stock and refurbish their premises.
The Home Ideas Centre had to be gutted, including the installations of more than 80 exhibitors. It’s estimated they will be open again in the third quarter of 2023.
The estimated collective claim from insurance is in the hundreds of millions, and many have said they face steep premiums and excess increases. Some say there are now exclusions placed on insuring future flood damage.
Sadly, one of the most consistent comments received from businesses straight after the floods was that from their observation, the drains were “blocked”. Several businesses noted alerting Auckland Council and other agencies last year, when some were flooded before.
The Strand has a peculiar set of challenges, being owned by Waka Kotahi, with certain services being provided by Auckland Transport. Intersecting roads such as St Georges Bay Rd fall under the responsibility of the council/Auckland Transport, but some feeder roads (165-132 The Strand, plus Tennis Lane), have the unenviable status of being in a kind of no-man’s land.
All of this made it extremely frustrating trying to get the drains serviced and cleaned before the second rains and then Cyclone Gabrielle.
When we finally managed to gather the parties in one room (Waka Kotahi, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council/Healthy Waters), what emerged was not only the ridiculous silos within which every organisation operates but the fact that Auckland Council only cleans the pipes once a year.
Apparently, the schedule was reduced in July 2020. This is hopelessly inadequate, especially for an area that sits in a flood plain and is subject to significant leaf fall from mature trees in the immediate catchment, combined with ageing earthenware pipes.
Since January, we have repeatedly asked about catch pit clearing, because from our perspective, certain drains seemed problematic with high water levels, even when there had been no rainfall.
Waka Kotahi has been responsive, but eventually pointed out that Auckland Council needs to conduct a proper inspection of the underground pipes as it believed these were “compromised”.
Auckland Council Healthy Waters finally commissioned a CCTV inspection and flushing of the pipes along a section of The Strand, which was completed in the latter part of June.
The council has reported that there was a build-up of silt in the pipes. In certain sections, the CCTV inspection couldn’t be completed as the pipes were blocked with silt. This has now all been flushed out.
We supported the proposed Storm Response Fund as part of the Auckland Council Budget but raised concerns about whether $20 million would be enough to effectively respond to future incidents. The increased figure of $40m seems more plausible but we are unaware of what that will cover.
Mitigation and planning from the businesses have been varied. Some businesses have employed a prevention strategy of sandbagging for any storm predicted to bring over 30mm of rain. Some have had floodgates installed, and others have completely refurbished their premises.
It has taken nearly six months to validate our initial observations, but where to now?
There is an additional pipe connection currently under construction which will hopefully create further capacity for stormwater, but it will only benefit a section of The Strand.
We believe that, at a bare minimum, the maintenance schedule needs to be doubled, but likely tripled in flood-prone catchment areas.
At the time of writing, we are still not sure what service levels the agreed council budget will provide, which of course our retailers are eager to learn about.
The Parnell Business Association also has no clarity as to what the council plans to do with the ageing infrastructure, or how it might be affected by plans to improve travel and efficiency for freight and buses under the Strand Optimisation Plan.
It would be nice to have some answers.
