Whakatāne properties near stopbanks have sections slashed

Former teacher Chris Burn says he stands to lose all the property he has cared for over the past 25 years. Photo / Troy Baker

Several homeowners whose backyards face the Whakatāne River are shocked to find out how much land they will lose the use of when remedial work begins on the stopbank.

Riverside Drive residents, some of whom have been living there for more than 30 years, have built accommodation and sheds that they are now being told will have to be removed along with decking and fencing around pools.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of landscaping will be undone and well-established gardens and trees of sentimental value will be destroyed.

Letters were sent out by Bay of Plenty Regional Council at the end of March to Riverside Drive households whose back yards encroach on the stopbank, telling them of its plans to remove structures, trees and other plants that are outside their legal boundaries.

The programme of work the council is calling Safeguard our Stopbank is expected to take place over the next two to three years.

The first stage of the project has already begun, with several properties along Henderson St having trees, fences and other structures removed and new fences constructed on the legal boundaries.

Soon-to-be-affected homeowner Chris Burn said a group of Riverside Drive homeowners planned to join forces to kick back against the regional council's plans.

"I'm in the process of speaking to people in the neighbourhood about arranging a street meeting and trying to involve a couple of people with knowledge of what the make-up of the stopbank is."

Some homeowners Local Democracy Reporting spoke to said the regional council had a very different idea of where their properties' boundary lines were from what they were provided with when they bought their properties.

Some have been shown a new boundary line that effectively cuts their backyard in half.

Even the land that the regional council agreed belonged to homeowners was affected by the Flood Protection and Drainage Bylaw 2020, which stated that authority must be sought from the council before building structures, planting or removing plants within 12 metres of the stopbank or to carry out any earthworks deeper than 30 centimetres within 40 metres of the stopbank.

The 40-metre zone would encompass their entire property and reach homes across the road.

Another property owner said before they built the deck around their swimming pool they sought the council's advice because there was a garden with a retaining wall where they wanted to build.

The council staff member told them to simply build over the top of it.

After spending thousands on the decking and fencing, they were now being told that because they did not have written authority, only verbal advice, it must be removed.

"I've been here 25 years," Burn, a retired teacher, said.

"When I bought the property, I was told by the land agent that we weren't allowed to do anything on the top and the steep bit of the stopbank - and no permanent structures. We were told nothing about vegetation. It came as a bit of a shock when they came and told me I would have to remove everything down to about a metre from where I walk down off my deck.

"Three trees I've got growing here are 25 years old and they were given to me by my deceased father in remembrance of him being captured on Crete and they are of real sentimental value to me. I have a 15-year-old kauri that's growing here, and I don't want to chop that down."

The council had not yet advised landowners whether they would have to pay for the removal of any trees or structures themselves, saying they would assess each property individually. Burn referred to this individual assessment as a "divide and conquer" strategy.

"If they say I have to remove them myself I am not going to," Burn said.

He said he probably had the least to lose of all his neighbours.

Garry Rusden shows where the Bay of Plenty Regional Council says his property ends, despite his own plans showing the building is within his boundary.

Next door, Garry Rusden had a one-bedroom flat straddling the new boundary that, according to the Whakatāne District Council plan their lawyers looked at when they bought the property, was well within their boundary.

It was built in the 1980s, but according to where the regional council says it was going to place the boundary fence, it was too close to the stopbank.

He described the regional council's plans as a "land grab".

Burn did not question the necessity of ensuring the integrity of the stopbank but wondered if the council had investigated other methods that would cause less upheaval for homeowners.

Over the past five years, he had watched the strengthening of the opposite side of the river by the placement of rocks.

"Let's think a little bit outside the square here. Why doesn't the council strengthen this side of the stopbank?

"It's not a huge leap. It would cost money, obviously, but would be better than upsetting the 50 or so houses involved and dropping the value of their properties by hundreds of thousands of dollars and cutting their backyards, basically, in half."

Regional council engineering project manager Paula Chapman said the council had a responsibility to ensure assets like stopbanks were resilient and would keep communities safe in a significant flooding event.

"This means the council is constantly reviewing the town's flood protection assets and looking at ways to protect them as we know some activities and practices can be detrimental to our stopbanks," she said.

Chapman told the Beacon the council now had a much better understanding of how damaging structures and trees could be to the stopbank than it had previously.

She said global warming and the increase in severe weather events meant there was an increased risk of flooding.

"No one wants a river running through their section."

One of the biggest threats to the stopbanks was tree roots, which could be as large below ground as above. When the tree roots died off, they could leave huge holes in the stopbanks.

She said building up the stopbanks on the riverside would not only be costly but also ineffective in improving the structural integrity of the stopbank.

"We would still have the same problem that we have now. Over the years, people have built structures and planted trees outside their boundaries and as time's gone on these non-approved structures and different types of vegetation have gradually advanced or encroached beyond where they should have."

The first stage of works was being done from Ferry Rd to upstream of the Landing Rd Bridge and would continue over the next month.

The council would reduce physical work over winter but would continue to investigate other areas along the stopbank that would need remediation work later in the year.

It was also reminding residents to check with the regional council first if they're wanting to do any work near a stopbank, as people would need to consider whether a bylaw authority was needed.

This authority was written permission from the regional council, with conditions attached, that outlined what a landowner must do to ensure the flood protection structure was not damaged or compromised.

Local Democracy Reporting is public interest journalism funded by NZ On Air.