Tauranga City Council is to change its approach to managing the city's flooding issues - but has not yet decided how much it is going to spend on dealing with them.

The flooding issue was the first of the big ticket items up for discussion in their Long Term Plan deliberations taking place this week.

Photo: File.

The flooding issue was posted early in the process with the intention of giving councillors the opportunity to make a financial decision that would set the limit for other discussion.

However, they changed their minds yesterday, setting the decision-making process to one side until other discussions are further advanced.

The decision made is to change to a safety to persons level of service, which means the city will no longer be spending ‘undue amounts' of money to protect properties in the known residential problem areas of Pillans/Bureta, Matua, Mount Industrial and Mount North.

Gail McIntosh voted against on two counts, stating that the monetary difference between the two approaches is 'only $120 million”, which over 10-19 years can be supported across the city, at a cost of $2400 per residence.

She also says the council should be looking after the ‘little people' who have lived in the same houses for many years and don't know about the issues and the new responsibilities that will be placed on them.

John Robson also voted against, saying the comparative costs of the two options do not allow for the additional and ongoing education enforcement costs that will be required with option A.

He also cited the juxtaposition of the two sets of costs and their failure to acknowledge the fact that the costs of the two options overlap.

'I think the numbers are being used to drive a lot of this,” says John

He says there is no confirmation that the numbers reflect the real costs of option A, partly because they don't assess the costs of enforcing it.

'There are costs that are not recognised in the numbers that we have seen,” says John. He says more work needs to be done before the LTP deliver on expectations.

Mayor Stuart Crosby agrees there is more information that needs to be brought forward, but says the decision does set the direction.

Councillors also voted to approach the Bay of Plenty Regional Council for funding, and that the council will provide data that identifies the catchments/streets that have experienced the most frequent flooding over the last 20 years.

Option A means the council will only intervene in flooding issues where there is a modelled safety risk to persons. At present, this only applies to around 40 properties within the City, with the majority located within Matua, Kopurereua Valley and the Waimapu Modelled Catchments.

The decisions set aside are whether to confirm $10.5 Million of annual funding for the first three years of the 2015-2025 Long Term Plan, to progress toward stormwater alleviation and achievement of the approved level of service.

They also confirm the funding of the capital works program to progress toward stormwater alleviation and achievement of the confirmed level of service from loans at $7.1 million in year one, $8.2 million in year two, $8.2 million in year three and $3 million a year from years 4-10.

Also to be confirmed is the continuation of the 2D catchment modelling programme of $1.4 million in year one and $300,000 a year after that. Also to be decided is the creation of a stormwater fund, which would amount to $2million a year.

With option A, most of the money will be spent on land purchase and the opening up of overland flowpaths to convey flood waters away from those at-risk properties only. The focus is only on making properties safe where the recommended safety level of service parameters are met.

Works for option B include land purchase, opening up of overland flowpaths, pumping stations (especially within the Mount North, Mount South, Mount Industrial and Papamoa Catchments), open channel realignment, stormwater pond creation, bund construction and significant pipework to convey flow-away areas subject to habitable floor flooding.

The council is working from figures that show it will cost about $190 million to prevent a '10-year” storm from flooding 475 habitable floors. It will take approximately $375 million to protect 1370 habitable floors from a '100-year” event.

The cost against the benefits gained is not considered to be consistent with the Long Term Plan principle of prudent financial management.

The current loan balance within the stormwater activity is approximately $97.9 million and the current stormwater annual operational expenditure is $15.9 million.

This significant debt has followed the Council's investment in stormwater infrastructure improvements.

Following flooding in 2013, council adopted a strategic approach to stormwater flooding issues across the city. To move things along in that year, a one-off $5 million rates levy was established to go towards stormwater work.