Scenic Group outlines its Franz Josef concerns
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A crucial hearing affecting the protection of Franz Josef township will finally get under way this Friday more than a year after work began on the $24 million Waiho Scheme.
The West Coast Regional Council let a contract in May 2022 to Greymouth contractor MBD for flood bank improvements and extensions on the Waiho true right bank, for the $12.5m first stage, but council soon ran into trouble.
Late last year as council tried to quickly resolve the necessary resource consents on a non-notified basis, the Scenic Hotel Group declined to give affected party approval.
Now a public hearing will convene in Greymouth this Friday, July 28, to hear from both sides. The hearing commissioner will first visit Franz Josef on Thursday.
According to papers filed for the hearing, Scenic Circle told the regional council back in January it was not confident construction on the new flood resilience scheme demonstrated enough safeguards to allow them to rebuild the hotel with confidence.
Scenic pointed out that the stopbank below the township and behind the hotel had failed on March 23 2016 “following unauthorised and unconsented work” in the riverbed, including “the diversion of the river towards the hotel.”
It did not state who had done that work but Scenic noted its insurers considered both the regional council and the Westland District Council and their respective contractors responsible for the subsequent flood damage.
"SHGL does not want to see a repeat of this in the riverbed and on the stop banks resulting in flooding or damage to its property in the future."
Scenic claimed it wished to rebuild a new hotel on the old site "but cannot do so" without being able to finance and insure the site due to the risk.
It also contended that what happened in 2016 was down to the regional council's "failure to maintain" the old stopbanks "and to prevent contractors and locals from excavating and gravel" from the old stop bank area.
The council had failed to "properly police and monitor" work in the river bed prior to the 2016 event, and where gravel was taken, to ensure it did not endanger their property or that of third parties.
The council had also failed in its role to ensure resource consents were held by those doing the work.
It was important that the "the failures and processes of the past" were not repeated by the new scheme, Scenic said.
Since January the $30m claim by Scenic's insurers has been settled confidentially for an undisclosed sum by both councils.
In the meantime, work on the northern flood bank improvement and extension by the West Coast Regional Council has slowed to a snail’s pace.
Crucial to the planned work is the raising the existing stopbank, and an extension by nearly 1km extension from the Franz Josef Heliport to below the derelict hotel site.
In the meantime council has had to go back to central government to reassure it that it is managing the situation, in order to keep its funding.
*Public interest journalism funded through NZ On Air
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!