Government could step in for flood protection in Franz Josef
Tuesday, 29 March 2016
The Government could help pay for flood protection in a West Coast tourist town where locals say 'lives are at risk' if nothing is done.
Almost 200 people had to be evacuated when the Waiho River overflowed on Wednesday night, carving a new path through the Mueller Hotel near Franz Josef and inundating north of the town with water.
Westland mayor Mike Havill and Civil Defence say if the river is not protected, people could die the next time it flooded.
Havill said he had been asking the Government for help because the council, the ratepayers and the West Coast Regional Council could not afford to build any more stop banks.
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There were only 300 ratepayers in the town which catered for up to 5000 visitors a night.
He said the river was building up with gravel and was at extreme risk of flooding, endangering many lives.
'The potential exists for bigger consequences. Lives are at risk. I think it's time the Government sat down with us to work through the issues and be part of the recovery.'
Andy Thompson of Westland Civil Defence said there was a high risk of future flooding and people in the nearby campground could be in danger next time.
'There's always potential for lives to be lost in any flood event. All we can do is plan for the eventualities and work through it.'
Minister of Civil Defence Nikki Kaye has asked officials for information about flood protection measures for Franz Josef, a spokesman said.
Finance Minister Bill English told Radio New Zealand Government assistance was possible if the flood risks were great enough.
'Central government tries to be as even-handed as possible by not picking out some for more assistance than others. In this case you can see that a very small community has a high volume of tourists there.'
The Government would talk with local authorities soon, he said.
Managing director of Scenic Circle Group, Brendan Taylor, which owns the Mueller Hotel, said it might never be rebuilt.
'We have had our engineers and insurance assessors through the hotel and they all said it was the worst they had ever seen.
'The whole ground floor took a major hit from the river. There are layers of silt and gravel right through, the river blew out all the front windows.'
The Scenic Group bought the hotel about 26 years ago and had helped pay for a stop bank which was breached on Wednesday.
'The issue at the moment is . . . if the stop bank is not fixed the water will keep coming through,' Taylor said.
'An engineer fell into a hole and was up to his chest in water. That's how dangerous the site is.'
Former Hokitika Airport chairman Bruce Smith said the airport had paid for a stop bank to protect its heliport at Franz Josef. He called for it to be extended immediately, a proposal which he said had been before the regional council for two years.
'Had the rock wall been extended we would not be dealing with the loss of the hotel and the [Westland] District Council's sewerage ponds.
'It's time to stop mucking around, build the rock wall extension within the budget of the community to protect both the village and the property to the north of the Franz village.'
Regional council planning and environment manager Michael Meehan said the council had been investigating extending the stop bank by 200 metres.
He believed the extension would not have prevented Wednesday's flood.