A solution has been negotiated to a long standing flood plain issue concerning a number of residents next to Cook Stream.

This solution will see the Waikato Regional Council, Thames-Coromandel District Council and a local landowner pay $20,000 in total for remedial work at the Cook Beach stream.

Cook Stream. Photo: WRC

WRC's Coromandel area manager Emily O'Donnell says there was a past allegation the land owner unlawfully raised their property's ground level, resulting some of the flood plain being filled.

It was suggested this caused increased flooding on the properties of other residents and a detailed investigation at the time showed the level of the flood plain had been raised.

This was modelled to have a small effect on the smaller annual flood events in the area.

But the landowner denied responsibility for the infilling, indicating it was the result of actions of a previous landowner.

To get a resolution, the regional council was left with the choice of either taking the matter to court to get the fill removed or pursuing a negotiated solution.

'While we considered taking the matter to court,” says Emily, 'we were concerned that there wasn't enough evidence to establish who was actually responsible for placing the fill on the flood plain.

'Rather than spend a lot of ratepayers money on uncertain court action, council instead elected to take a more pragmatic approach in working with TCDC and the landowner to negotiate an agreeable solution.”

The regional council's river management team will now oversee a contractor who will remove some of the fill adjacent to the stream to make a wider floodway.

This will make it easier for the stream to cope with the smaller floods that frequently occur in the Cook Stream catchment.

Some erosion protection work will be undertaken at the same time to stabilise the banks of a tributary on the property.

The areas will then be planted with appropriate plants to protect from erosion in future.

Costs will be shared by the two councils and the landowner, with the work expected to be completed this month.

'At the end of the day we have collectively chosen not to get into a protracted legal squabble and agreed to spend money dealing with the actual problem the community is concerned about.”