The Plimmerton community was hit with flash flooding last week, leaving homes uninhabitable. Photo / Supplied
The Plimmerton community was hit with flash flooding last week, leaving homes uninhabitable. Photo / Supplied
A community recently ravaged by flash flooding hopes to double its investment into water infrastructure to help avoid flood risk.
Last week, heavy rain and strong winds damaged properties in Plimmerton, north of Wellington, leaving 15 homes uninhabitable.
Porirua Mayor Anita Baker said greater investment in the water infrastructure ofthe town was future-proofing for future flood risk, but also just "catching up".
"Not enough has ever been done in all the years the city's been here so we have to catch-up on all those pipes – they're meant to last a hundred years and they've only lasted 60.
"We've got regular breaks happening everywhere so it's about how much more we can spend and how quickly."
Baker was heartened to see how the Plimmerton community and emergency services had come together in the wake of the flood, and hoped the investment would eventually reduce the risk of such events.
Porirua City Council was proposing to double the Three Waters infrastructure investment in their next Long Term plan to $800 million.
They had also asked Wellington Water to identify "flooding hotspots" that needed extra funding, on which they would also consult the public.
"We call them flooding hotspots, and we've got a number of those ... in the main street and in Titahi Bay and Plimmerton.
"In a very large event, you know you're going to get flooding there."
She said ageing infrastructure, coupled with more weather events was increasing the risk of flooding.
"It's not just infrastructure, it's climate change," she said.
Ageing water infrastructure was contributing to flood risk, the council said. Photo / Supplied
"The one-in-50 and one-in-100-year events are now regular, they're not like they were.
"And the pipes were made for a one-in-30 in the old days, so we know everything is not the right size anymore."
But the fix would not be overnight, Baker said.
"We need to get the study done for the whole city of the flooding event, and see which areas are the worst and which can be done quickly, which ones we can't, whether it's just a culvert or whether it's piping, size ...
"We know our pipes are not large enough at the moment but it's how quickly we spend the money and where we spend the money."
