$50 Million Down the Plughole

Call it what you like. The pub test, commonsense, local knowledge, logical thinking. The more people in the local community that I talk to the more I get the same answer.

The kneejerk reaction to the flood has seen the boffins spend $50 million on works that are not going to solve any problems.

Locals don't count. Local knowledge doesn't make any difference even when there are 80 year olds that have witnessed all sorts of weather events and stored away in their memories  the impacts, the results and the historical reactions that add to an accumulated store of valuable information that at times like this can be utilised to help make decisions. To help understand. To help the community better prepare for any future events.

A close by neighbour called in during the week and let rip at the destruction occurring along the banks of our local stream.

Trees that have been established for years are being felled and chipped .Yes chipped. What a waste.

They should not be felled at all. What about the environmental impact . Surprising there was no report that stopped the destruction of habitat.

All part of the plan to build a stopbank that will do nothing. A stopbank that is being built to make it look as though something is being achieved. A stopbank project that is costing $50 million .

The community was decimated following Gabrielle and gathered itself together with grit and grind from helping each other and help from an army of volunteers.

Those who were bought out probably gained fom the deal while the remainder have carried on .Watching with disgust now as money goes down the plughole on a poorly thought out response.

It has been heartening that the response from everyone I have talked to has been the same. No need.

The answer lies in other areas which I will divulge in time . 

 

 

   

 The  House That Moved

Amazing what they can do to move a house these days. 

Trucks that can perform amazing tasks to straddle and dodge obstacles on the way to a new outlook.

So the house that was moved from danger  (too late really) was sitting on the truck one day and in the middle of the night I heard the quiet but fast move down the road with flashing lights and pilot vehicles and attendants paving the way for a safe trip.

The property that the house was moved from was deemed necessary to acquire for future flood control.

It's like a kneejerk reaction. Something has to be seen to be done or otherwise there will be another catastrophe .

The stream next to the property has been quietly flowing for years and years .There was a stopbank present along the adjoining stretch but the stream was spring fed.

The spring was miles away and the resulting flow meandered through many properties before reaching a junction with the main river system where it discharged near a double channel that took overflow from the main river.

I had seen this stream at times of very high rainfall and runoff pushed it up a little but it was hard to notice.

I had observed the level well up the stopbank in one rain event but it never looked like breaching.

The only reason it breached during Gabrielle was because the main river had multiple breaches up steam and that combined with what was more like a dam burst in another valley to deliver us a double whammy.

The solution was to attend to upstream issues first.

Disrupting peoples lives and spending ratepayers and taxpayers money on quick fix solutions was a poor decision.

The other issue is reoccurrence.

 I guess modelling suggests we will see the same scenario repeated in the future.

I would speculate that we will not.

The exact same scenario will not be repeated and there other areas that I can see that are much more vulnerable  and still exposed to future events.

Two areas in particular are open to huge destruction and possible loss of life.

Strange that the reaction is to penalise those who have already been penalised. 

        

 Another House Gone

One of the more silly ideas born out of modelling and expert opinion has seen a block of land purchased off owners that lived happily on their life sentence block for years . Parties ,family , sheep, upgrades, fruit, cropping . All those wonderful aspects of life that we live for and enjoy until something comes along and kicks you in the guts.

Well Gabrielle did that but they buried sheep ,lost sheep , lost a  restored Holden , lost household goods but survived to tell the tale.

That was until the powers that be turned up and said we want to but your property and if you don't agree we will take it.

Its a marvellous piece of legislation the Public Works Act.

Sometimes it may be warranted but with this move it was debatable.

Locals who have been resident for years could see the stupidity.  It is so silly that locals may understand the area when the experts have all the knowledge and qualifications to clobber the people with facts and figures.

To hell with commonsense understanding and years of observation.

The modelling shows this block that has a stopbank on one boundary and a curve that invited the power of water to press against during the flood , thus creating a hole, a breach, a weak spot now must be changed to accommodate the next flood.

Not only that but well established trees that had held the edge of the banks together with a tangle of roots holding hands such that they never fell over in the heat of the moment , well they must go.

Modelling says so.

Realign. Reshape. redesign because the money is there and it will all work better next time.

Such folly.

I think the analysis by the locals that witnessed what happened , quietly whispered between friends , was that there was no need for this action.

The fault lay upstream. The fault was part of a much larger problem that is not being addressed .

So this lovely house that stood up to the forces of nature was lifted on to the back of a truck the other day and sat in the paddock awaiting it's escape to some other paddock or hill top.

It will not feature on moving houses .It is just another house lost  to our community because of bad decisions .

The dozers are lined up ready to reshape the future.    

     

  

Lessons Learnt

It was good to hear a radio interview with a representative of a volunteer group that was involved in the many and varied tasks of helping those affected by Gabrielle.

The old Civil Defence setup ,though well meaning , failed miserably following the flood and hopefully is now a better group after a look in the mirror and an embarrassing  exposure in the aftermath.

They have their place.

What was comforting was the lessons learned by those involved in helping the many in  a host of situations and the way they have convened and chewed and created an effective approach for future events.

The many communities affected locally did react immediately and come together and pull resources and equipment to help their fellow members at such a difficult time.

Locals understand the geography ,  they understand the land . the waterways, the problems and from experience know what to do.

People pool resources very quickly and recognise the expertise that many can contribute.

Talk of hubs that can be set up is a good move and some better organisation and planning put in place now will be invaluable for any future challenges.

I had a few concerns about terminology but at this stage that can be overridden as it would be if there is a serious event.

Future events may well hit different parts of our region so so planning for any events based on a repeat of the last flood may well be slightly misguided .Hopefully resources can be shifted quickly and effectively.

Exceedingly good that local knowledge has been recognised and councils through Civil Defence can stay on their side of the fence  along with any other Government bodies .

Better to respect the locals and not dictate.

    

      

Politicians

I know.

The mere mention of the word causes faces to contort.

What now?

The National team ,  that thought they understood Local Government , demanded that Councils look at options for amalgamation as that was going to solve all the rates rises. You know. Bigger is better. Savings from economies of scale. Less CEO's (that were once Town Clerks).  Less staff. Blah, blah, blah.

Councils throughout the country threw themselves in to  consultant led conniptions, staff led saving our arse excercises and councillor led what's in it for me mindsets.

Forget about millions spent previously on amalgamation questions and the glaring example of what not to do provided by the monster Auckland Council that breeds staff  and reports like Central Otago rabbits .No it's only ratepayer money that is being spent err, being thrown down the braided rivers of various catchments in to a sea of  crabs that grab it with their little nippers before the next notes appear.

May be that's what an economy is about . Just throw the money around and hope everyone snares enough to get a feed with.

So all this money was spent and then at the last minute the Government said they will put these ideas on hold .

What happened?

Did the Government get a message that local government is not that easy to change and there were problems in trying to force change on extremely diverse arrangements that fit in to our long ,complicated , geographically changing regions .

It's hard to fathom but going by the vacuous  utterances exuding from the Local Government Minister one does not have a lot of hope that the decision was amde for wise reasons.

Wise is something missing in the beehive.

Ho hum.

Ratepayers have been skinned again. Fleeced of money that will never be explained in the lengthening list of explanations on a rates bill.

Their should be a line for confetti. 

 

     

 Rates Bill

Not hard to get upset about a rates bill these days.

As I tentatively opened the colourful envelope ( I knew it wasn't a love letter)  I had a thousand thoughts running through my mind.

Would the new valuations mean a drop in rates?  Has the Council made some cuts to expenditure and reduced the reach in to ratepayers pockets?  (haha) Has the Council  reduced the number of lines explaining every added excuse for a little more rates?

No way.

It was the same old spread. 

It was as though nothing had happened .

After paying rates for forty years it continues.

There is a line or two that says HPFPS .

Heretaunga Plains Flood Control Scheme.

What happened .We had a flood. Were we protected .No. 

The Heretaunga Plains Flood Control Scheme failed. It was/is  a very good scheme and was designed to protect us from flooding with stopbanks built for a 1 in 100 year event.

So for years and years ratepayers have paid to build and maintain this scheme. It failed.

Why did it fail.

A host of reasons exacerbated by a major rain event .Many of the reasons however were because the Council failed to carry out maintenance , failed to hold up their end of the bargain that the ratepayers coughed up for.

Why did we pay rates for decades for protection and still get flooded ? 

So here we are again paying the rates for protection that is now questionable.

$50 million currently being spent on stopbanks in our area is a waste of money. The rivers that are filled up with tree growth and silt have not been touched.

If I refuse to pay my rates the state wins.

I'm back to accountability and why are we ineffective in attempts to correct this mess. 

    

 

Accountability

Word of the week.

Accountability. It's been popping up in conversation around many issues and Government and Local Government are being exposed  for the lack of accountability that occurs after major events or decisions that affect thousands of New Zealanders.

It is not a new problem but may be issues like the Mount and alleged lies by public servants have brought the problem to prominence in the media and a bit of sunlight has exposed how bad things are.

Historically accountability of civil servants has been a 'too hard' to deal with issue .We can't sue and the public service carries on as though nothing has happened.

Following Gabrielle fingers were pointed , behind the scenes shifts occurred , jobs reallocated , lots of muttering and excuses but no accountability. Nothing. Nada.

It was hard to get a hold on who was in charge and who made decisions. No one wanted to front up and if you asked questions there was silence.

Last week I happened to be having a wide ranging conversation with a local friend and the comment was made, "he made the decision "

I was stunned .Whaaat ? I asked. Yes he made the decision.

So from a random conversation and by sheer coincidence I found out who made the decision to draw a line through our community causing angst and pain, pitching local against local during a time of extreme fear and upheaval.

The Category 3 ID was a line drawn in haste . It was totally unnecessary and was one of those hasty decisions that was made by the hidden shiny arse brigade in Wellington with help from information supplied by local public servants.

I had tried to find out who made the decision and now I know.

It confirms in my mind that the process that evolved all to quickly following the flood was ill conceived and though well intentioned had such a drastic affect on our community (and others) that it should never be followed again.

The disconnect between the people and the bureaucrats has never been greater and accountability will never occur with the current setup.

I will not divulge the name of the decision maker because he is but one in a chain of command that is possibly implicated in many Government decisions that have had major impacts on communities.

Suffice to say it helps put the picture together for later reference.