Auckland flooding: Kumeū businesses get grants as level 3 allows next phase of recovery

Thursday, 23 September 2021

So far under level 3, Kumeū businesses have received $8000 in grants to help them recover from the floods of August 31.

Local businesses in Kumeū have been handed grants from the West Auckland Business Association, as the next phase of recovery from August 31’s floods begins.

So far, eight businesses have applied for the $1000 grant to help them recover from flood damage, and all have received them since Auckland entered level 3 on Wednesday.

Charlotte Glidden, owner of Kumeū’s Bowring Print, said her grant will go towards the cleaning and painting of her store that was waist-deep in flood water.

Bowring Print owner, Charlotte Glidden described the road her store was located on “like a river”.

“It was a kick in the guts. We had family members sweeping water out the back door, but the road was like a river,” said Glidden.

Level 3 has made repair work easier, said Glidden, who now has access to services such as gib-stoppers and painters. Working at half-capacity because most of the equipment is still to be replaced, it could be a month before Bowring Print can return to normal.

“It’s good we can get up and running, now it’s on to the next stage of recovery,” said Glidden.

Mitre 10 experienced heavy customer traffic at the Helensville stores, Kumeū business association chair said staff stressed to get products out the door.

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Steph Hoogenboom, owner of The Green Grocer cafe which also received a grant, agreed that level 3 meant progress on repairs was easier.

“You can get a plumber or electrician out here to take a look at things, construction staff can access more building materials – it makes a big difference,” said Hoogenboom.

Kumeū picked up recovery efforts when trade stores opened on Wednesday, according to Kumeū business association chair Mark Dennis, who said the Mitre 10 and Building Supplies Warehouse stores in Helensville were teeming with customers after level 4 closure.

“After five weeks of lockdown, it’s certainly busy out there, but stores were expecting high demand and were well prepared for it, with robust operating protocols to manage safe and contactless order fulfilment,” said a Mitre 10 statement.

Dennis said he was glad to see trade workers taking full advantage of the alert level shift, Helensville “booming with diggers” and builders beginning onsite work across west Auckland.

“The building supplies shortage has been noticeable, trade store staff have been stressing about getting products out the doors,” said Dennis.

“One thing there’s certainly no shortage in is repairs.”

It means West Auckland builders need to be organised. Kumeū-based builder Jonathan Weatherby said level 3 “is going to be chaos” for the trade industry.

“Builders can be disorganised at times; there’s no room to be careless when it comes to planning out your projects,” said Weatherby.

“I’ve ordered things for projects in December – just in case. You’ve just got to look at things from the perspective of keeping work flowing and not letting the shortage interrupt things.”