Council please could you answer this question. Each year we have autumn rains and some cause massive flooding on the roadside.

When it happens we hear about the fire department cleaning out the drains. Why is this not done by council workers prior to the autumn rains? As I don't see this as part of the fireman's job.

Maybe the Commissioner, on excessive wages, could reply to this?

Just a thought from a ratepayer: 'prevention is better than curing damage”.

D Hellier, Matapihi.

TCC's general manager: infrastructure Nic Johansson replies:

Council contractors provide preventative maintenance for both our roading and stormwater networks. This includes scheduled stormwater grate and sump cleaning as part of our roading contract and scheduled removal of material from stormwater drains and outlets, plus checks prior to heavy rain under our drainage maintenance contract. Despite this, localised flooding can occur after intense rainfall. When council is notified about surface flooding issues, our contractors respond as soon as possible and with respect to the incident in Arataki featured in a recent story, they attended and assisted the fire service staff, who had been separately called by residents.

In some areas of the city, roads are designed to flood to minimise the impact on dwellings and property. Once the rain stops, the water gradually drains away through the network. In other areas, intensification has created areas where localised flooding can be an issue, especially in heavy rain. Many of these have been reduced through the stormwater minor works programme in the last few years, while others may require longer term solutions provided for under plan change 27 or the stormwater reactive reserve fund.