Marooned pigs and a house with a moat - floods turn paradise into a prison for farmers

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Staven McQuillan has been left with almost nothing after his small farm was destroyed when the Okuku River broke free of its banks and formed a new branch through his land.

With his land and livelihood buried under tonnes of silt, gravel and water, Staven McQuillan is devastated and wants answers.

“This never had to happen,” he says.

As marooned pigs, cows and sheep wander aimlessly on islands created by mud, silt and stone, a bewildered cat meows while ducks and geese investigate their new water park.

Staven McQuillan’s home is now marooned on an island after the swollen Okuku River broke its banks and surged across his farmland.

Standing on the deck of a house that is now surrounded by a moat, McQuillan shakes his head as he wonders how he will put his life back together.

McQuillan is in shock after his little farm was destroyed, years of work gone.

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Pigs run free on McQuillan’s farm after it was destroyed when the Okuku River broke free of its banks and formed a new branch through his land.

Just a week ago the vista from his front yard was a chocolate box landscape, with green paddocks fringed by a backdrop of the mountains. Today there is a braided river and a bucket-load of broken dreams.

On Monday the Okuku River burst its banks and formed a new branch 150 metres from its main arm, flooding four properties.

Surveying the property he calls his “piece of paradise”, a visibly shocked McQuillan struggles to describe his feelings.

Livestock now graze on stony islands instead of lush green paddocks at McQuillan’s Okuku farm.

“I’m still getting my head around it,” he says.

With sheds in ragged pieces over several properties and a new $20,000 piggery buried under debris, McQuillan is facing an uncertain future.

Although small, his farm allowed McQuillan to be self-sufficient and was a much-loved playground for his children. But all that changed as he watched river levels rise.

McQuillan has effectively been left homeless, forced to stay with friends.

Having experienced minor flooding on the property before, he and his partner had moved their cows, pigs, sheep and turkeys to higher ground, cutting fences as it became apparent they could be in trouble.

In 25 minutes the water rose two metres, and the couple found themselves stranded at their home.

Luckily a relative with a high four-wheel-drive was able to rescue them, but they fled with just a bag of clothing and the fear of what they would come back to.

All but 15 turkeys and one piglet survived the rushing water as shingle, trees and farm equipment crashed through his land and into neighbouring properties.

As McQuillan took an inventory of his property on Thursday, Environment Canterbury river engineers arrived to discuss how they were going to make the area safe. They were hoping to divert the water by digging a channel back to the river.

But it was too late for McQuillan, who said if the previous concerns he had raised with the council had been heeded, the disaster would have been avoided.

Gary Williams is facing a huge clean-up after floods destroyed his small Okuku farm.

McQuillan had noticed the river begin to change its course since buying the property five years ago.

Concerned about the increased risk of flooding, he developed a $12,000 stopbank believing it would be enough to stall even the heaviest of deluges.

But it was flattened when a two-metre wave rolled through the river.

Frustrated his concerns were ignored, he wants to know who will fix his land.

ECan operations director Katherine Harbrow confirmed it had received complaints about a farmer carrying out activities in the Okuku River. He was subsequently issued an infringement notice in 2010 and 2013.

Two weeks ago an officer checked activities adjacent to the river and found farming activities were not in breach of regional rules, including the Resource Management Act.

Williams believes unchecked development contributed to the flood.

Because the property was outside a river rating district, where targeted rates were collected to maintain a flood protection scheme, the financial burden of any damage would fall on landowners, she said.

But Gary Williams, a neighbour of McQuillan, doesn’t agree, saying both ECan and Waimakariri District Council needed to take responsibility for the river and community consultation should be undertaken to find a way forward.

Williams also believes unchecked development contributed to the flood that caused “all hell to break loose” and wrecked almost nine years of development on his 12-acre goat farm.

“Okuku is a forgotten river. It’s not being looked after.”

“Gobsmacked” by the torrent that swallowed his property, Williams said ECan and the Waimakariri District Council needed to work with each other to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

His treasured rare herd of Arapawa goats survived the flood, including Bonnie, a three-year-old doe who was missing for three days until she was found under a hay baler.

Inside his house a musty odour pervades every room after the flood washed over new carpets, and mould decorates vinyl floors in between a sheen of mud.

Heaters have been thrown on unmade beds and condensation drips from the ceiling.

Outside, a chest freezer teeters at a precarious angle, a pet goldfish lies 200 metres from its pond, giant stumps look like they fell from the sky and thick silt piles have created boggy beaches where goats used to graze.

It’s a bleak landscape, with another neighbour having her entire property covered in a thick crust of silt.

When asked about the cost of the clean-up, Williams shrugs.

“I don’t want to put a price on it, but it’s not going to be cheap.”

A Waimakariri District Council spokesperson said a civil defence team have offered to arrange support for McQuillan, while mayor Dan Gordon would meet with him on Friday, she said.

With no water supply, McQuillan is homeless and has been forced to stay with friends.

Feeding the scattered livestock has become a daily mission using a boat or a tractor, but with no pasture left he will be forced to sell the only income earners he has.

“What do I do?”