Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz

Waihi Beach residents met last week to discuss their town's stormwater issues. They did not meet to challenge council – the Western Bay of Plenty District Council has already spoken.

The insurance companies, in most cases, have already walked away. The town knew it was only going to find answers to the stormwater devastation of their town if they came together to develop their own plans. People started by sharing their stories in a strange and seemingly unemotional way but you could feel the frustration and fear, and for some of the people, tears were not far away. The 200 people were determined to share their problems and start discussions on their solutions.

The stormwater problem has been known about for years but ‘storm bombs' like the recent 300mm in three hours, are becoming more frequent. Black water (a polite word for stormwater-driven sewerage), gushing back out of a toilet to flood a house is a re-occurring story. A $17,000 one-way valve suggested by the council could never be an answer when the black water is coming in the front door as well. And, building up a property to raise its house is only going to add to the flooding of neighbours. Larger stormwater pipes are also not a solution when the black water is coming back out of the pipes.

Residential developments that satisfied immediate engineering specifications have often been major causes of flooding when the town's infrastructure, built for another time, has proved inadequate. A number of areas in Waihi have never flooded before this year. Other speakers confirmed the increased severity, while reporting the damage to their properties. One victim described two ankle-deep floods on his section in the last the 20 years, but last month his flood was chest-high and three cars were written off.

Council was criticised for failure to maintain the stormwater system. Deficient design problems were noted on the size of pipes and culverts. Poorly cleaned culverts, at the time of the storm events, were reported by many of the 27 speakers. Council staff, who fronted up and supported them at the time, were praised; and the report on Waihi Beach flooding and the actions planned by council were acknowledged but much more will be needed if the town is to survive.

Some solutions suggested at the meeting seemed obvious to the people but a mystery to council. Spraying weeds in drains seems a good move but flood events uproot the dead weeds, which then choke stormwater grills. There was a call to re-instate a drainage maintenance person for the town. Individuals, sending in service requests for engineering help 70km away, are never going to be serviced in an adequate or timely manner. Directing stormwater into a flooded storm water system is never going to work. Some locals discussed gullies in the hills behind, which could be used as storm water dams. The chief fire officer, who also owns the very vulnerable camping ground, has asked the council for 16 years for the key to the water reservoir. The reservoir overflows in storm events and is a main source of floodwater through the town. As the chief fire officer, he receives a five hour warning of storm events and he could release a third of the reservoir water before the storm arrives, which should be sufficient storage to contain most of the floodwater – but the council has refused his request every year.

Council does not like listening to meetings that it doesn't control. MP for Coromandel Scott Simpson congratulated the meeting for its positive attitude and stated that he believed that the wit, wisdom and intelligence available from the council, and the people of the town, seemed to be sufficient to find solutions – if the council and the people could only just get together and, in the words of the new SmartGrowth plan and Government instructions, learn to collaborate.