Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, who is also a NorthPark developer and property owner, has weighed in on Kaitāia's flood protections.
Auckland Mayor and property developer Wayne Brown has criticised Northland Regional Council (NRC) after flooding hit Kaitāia’s $120m northern industrial and large‑format retail precinct.
Brown, who retains business interests in Northland, said he was unimpressed by the council talking up the performance of its $15.5m Awanui flood management scheme upgrades after last week’s event, given that Kaitāia’s NorthPark – one of the Far North’s largest commercial hubs – suffered millions of dollars in damage.
Brown was a key figure in developing the 45ha NorthPark precinct, where he still has significant financial interests and owns several buildings occupied by major tenants. The precinct began development in 2008 and hosts about 20 businesses.
“I would have thought the regional council would have taken stock a bit more and not come out praising the scheme, when we were so badly affected,” Brown, who was Far North Mayor for six years from 2007, said.
During his scathing comments, Brown said NRC councillors, Awanui River working group chair Joe Carr and Northland Civil Defence chair Colin “Toss” Kitchen should apologise for publicly praising the scheme’s performance.
Carr said the council did not want to minimise the flooding’s impact.
“Council is aware the recent flooding has been costly and upsetting for those impacted and in no way wishes to downplay this,” Carr said.
“We are very sympathetic to those affected.”
Carr said the scheme had nonetheless protected Kaitāia as a whole from far more extensive flooding, including areas that would previously have been inundated in much smaller events.
Brown’s comments come as new NRC data reveals river flows during last week’s flooding were unprecedented.
The council said the Awanui River flood-management scheme was subjected to hourly rainfall rates and water volumes much higher than the one-in-100-year event it was designed to accommodate, with flows the highest recorded since monitoring began in 1965.
There were 413cu m of water flowing through the scheme last week, despite it being designed for flows of 272cu m with extra freeboard. This compared with 258cu m a second in 2007 when people were evacuated during Kaitāia flooding, and 220cu m a second in the town’s infamous 1958 flood.
Brown said the scheme upgrade had shifted floodwater northward from Kaitāia’s town centre to NorthPark.
He had expected the area to remain protected, based on assurances from NRC about two years ago that the stopbank between Bells Produce and Pak’nSave – which overtopped – would be addressed.
“But that hasn’t happened. I’m deeply disappointed,” Brown said.
“The stopbank’s either too low or it hasn’t extended far enough north.”
Carr confirmed that NorthPark flooding had come after overflow from the scheme’s older Bells Produce and Pak’nSave river section, which has yet to be upgraded, and interacted with local stormwater.
However, he said this did not mean the overall scheme had failed.
“There will always be events where more water arrives than any scheme can cope with.”
Carr said about 550m of additional protection was required along this stretch, either through vertical flood walling or new earth stopbanking, forming the second phase of a two‑stage fix.
“At this stage, there is no firm timetable or costings for this work, but it will be progressed as a matter of priority,” Carr said.
Work was already underway on flood modelling, design and land easements.
Carr said NRC generally preferred stopbanks, but buildings close to the river and challenging ground conditions could constrain options for that stretch.
NorthPark is in one of northern Kaitāia’s lowest‑lying areas and has long been identified as flood‑prone in NRC mapping.
Modelling indicated potential flood depths of up to 2m along its North Park Drive during extreme events.
Carr said some NorthPark buildings had been constructed above that level and, to the council’s knowledge, did not flood.
He acknowledged upgrades to the Bells Produce-to-Pak’nSave stopbank section remained incomplete.
However, Carr said a first phase of river work along 900m upstream from there and costing $1.2 million had been completed, reducing impacts last week.
That work included clearing heavily silted SH1’s Waikuruki bridge spans, removing log jams, river widening and riverbank benching to give floodwater more room.
“River work was prioritised because it delivered the most ‘bang for buck’ in reducing flood levels and was faster to complete,” Carr said.
He said last week’s event far exceeded the volume of water the scheme was designed to accommodate, which had been agreed on by the working group after public consultation.
“There will always be over‑design weather events; Auckland and Hawke’s Bay experienced these during 2023’s Anniversary weekend and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Carr said.
He said work on the scheme was progressing as quickly as funding and practicality allowed.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.