Auckland Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee has endorsed flood resilience projects in Māngere as well as landslide and stormwater resilience upgrades for Muriwai.
The projects are part of the wider Making Space for Water programme and represent the first in a series of projects that will increase flood resilience in the region, said Mayor, Wayne Brown.
“I’m pleased to see the first Making Space for Water projects get off the ground. Māngere and Muriwai were among the hardest hit during Cyclone Gabrielle and the Anniversary weekend flood and it’s good to see these works are progressing quickly, so that the people living in these areas, like many in Kāinga Ora homes, are not exposed to the same risk in the future,” says Mayor Brown.
“This is a significant milestone for Auckland, and it shows central government and Auckland Council working together, to fund solutions to help communities be more flood resilient.
“An Order in Council will help to accelerate the project and remove the immediate consenting burden and cost. Flood resilience projects in Māngere will protect hundreds of households from future flooding risk and I look forward to working closely with Kāinga Ora in developing new homes in these places in the future.”
Chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor John Watson says, “We are seeing more extreme weather, and many parts of Auckland are becoming increasingly vulnerable to heavy rain. If these works go ahead, we’ll see hundreds of homes in Māngere with a reduced flood risk.
“Some of these homes are classed as having an intolerable risk to life and would otherwise have had to be removed, so it’s important to do what we can to deliver these projects quickly. It’s great to see the council working with central government to do this and deliver this key next step which will reduce the risk for so many households.”
Deputy Chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Christine Fletcher, echoes this sentiment and the importance of this work in Auckland to increase the city’s resilience to extreme weather.
“This is an important step in the process and shows Auckland Council’s commitment to flood resilience projects and delivering them in a timely manner for all Aucklanders,” says Cr Fletcher.
“We saw many areas in Auckland impacted by the severe weather events last year. It was a difficult time for our communities, and we are very aware how important it is to improve flood resilience across the region. However, it’s also important to progress this work quickly, where we can do so, which is why we are looking to start this significant programme of work in Māngere and Muriwai.”
In Māngere, the committee supported the comprehensive flood resilience projects for Te Ararata and Harania catchments and supported staff requesting an Order in Council from the central government to deliver these projects quickly, which is subject to ministerial and Cabinet approval.
In Muriwai, the committee also voted to support the Muriwai landslide and stormwater resilience upgrades which are estimated to begin later this year.
