Hokitika stopbank ‘top of the priority list’

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:

Addressing the critical flood risk to Hokitika township by raising the Hokitika River stopbank is at the "top of the priority list" for the West Coast Regional Council.

It hopes to tender the project in about six weeks and hopes to present the scope of the latest project to a meeting of the Hokitika joint floodwall district within a month, regional council acting chairperson Peter Haddock said on Thursday.

Meanwhile they were liaising with Westland District Council (WDC) over its stormwater pipe through the existing bank off Townbelt East.

"Council have been working closely with the WDC because the WDC put some pipes under the existing stopbank there and the wall is slightly lower now than what it was originally," Haddock said.

The top of the bank at the WDC outfall point was now a worry as the main channel of the river was increasingly turning towards the channel behind Westland Milk Products and would be compromised.

The river had already been within 400ml of topping the bank at that point in a previous flood, Haddock said.

"We're trying to work in with WDC to make sure they do the reinstatement work there. We have put the pressure on them to get something resolved," he said.

WDC chief executive Simon Bastion said on Thursday that the stormwater project was not finished yet.

"The outfall position will not change. We are awaiting the final design of the protection works from WCRC," he said.

Haddock said work on finalising the broader river protection work along the bank from Hokitika Bridge to WMP "is progressing well".

The council was hoping to go to tender within two months although it would need to be presented in a meeting of the joint rating district first.

It was very cognizant of what was at stake for the community and the West Coast dairy industry - as had been highlighted recently by veteran dairy farmer and former Grey District councillor Alan Berry when he fronted council and warned of the consequences of an ‘old man’ flood.

"Council are all over the project. It has been given real high priority because of that risk. That is at the top of the council's priority list,” Haddock said.

“That's a very high risk: everyone is concerned about that."

Haddock said they hoped to have firm figures before the next full council meeting in a fortnight and to go to a meeting of the joint Hokitika rating district this month.

"We're hoping to be out for tender in the next six weeks."

The money previously allocated to council under the Government's shovel ready scheme for extension of the Hokitika seawall had now been reallocated by the infrastrucutre division of MBIE, Kanoa, after it agreed the river protection was more urgent.

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