GWRC floats homes purchase plan

POWER: The Waipoua River in flood last year. PHOTO/FILE

A proposal flood-prone properties in Masterton's Oxford St should be bought by the district council looks unlikely to get past first base.

The suggestion came from Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and was only briefly touched on at a meeting of Masterton District Council's Environment Task Group where it was seemingly quickly pushed aside.

Minutes from the task group meeting, which is not open to the press or public, but which will be discussed in an open council meeting tomorrow show council chief executive Pim Borren was told of the regional council's suggestion the properties be purchased.

Councillor Pip Hannon said instead of spending $3 million on buying up people's land and houses, the council could invest $500,000 raising the stopbank designed to protect the street from being inundated with floodwater from the Waipoua River.

Oxford St is one of many now identified in the urban area of Masterton as being at risk in a one-in-a-100 year flood.

New data gathered after 20 years of research, using aerial photos, surveys, electronic flood mapping tools and other analytical techniques has greatly updated flood risk information.

Huge chunks of Masterton's housing area from Akura Road/Upper Oxford St in the north to the Homebush sewage ponds in the south would be expected to go under water in the event of a big flood.

Flooding would be especially evident in areas close to the Waipoua River.

Publication of the new data led to an open day being organised earlier this month so people who had concerns about the likely effects of a flood on their property, and the impact on property values, could discuss these with civic leaders.

More than 200 people took the opportunity to do so.

In a meeting between Mr Borren and GWRC at which the flood data was presented, the issue of including flood information on LIM reports at each of the affected Oxford St houses was discussed.