BIRD’S EYE VIEW
LAST week’s massive downpour left more than 200 slips on Dunedin City Council land alone.
The Dunedin City Council said that as at noon on
Thursday, there were 209 identified slips on council roads and reserves — and that figure didn’t even include slips on private property.
The council yesterday said extra geotechnical or civil engineering investigation or advice was needed at about 30 sites on council roads and reserves where there was a slip or other flood damage.
Council acting group manager transport Merrin McCrory said Otago Peninsula was among the worsthit areas, but there were slips across the city including in West Harbour, Henley, Saddle Hill, Brighton, Seacliff and in Outram.
How much it would cost and how long it would take to clear all those slips would only become apparent once all sites across the city had been inspected, Ms McCrory said. About $700,000 had been spent already but that was expected to ‘‘increase significantly’’ over coming weeks.
‘‘The work so far has focused on making roads accessible where possible by clearing debris and safely managing traffic.’’
On Portobello Rd alone there were 40 slips. Roads providing access to the peninsula had mostly been cleared.
Despite more than 200 slips, it was believed the city was not as badly affected as it was by the flood in June 2015.
‘‘Early indications are that the slips on the peninsula were less significant compared to 2015 because many, with the exception of access to the Albatross Colony, were able to be addressed without requiring significant works.’’
One of those left in a difficult spot by a slip was Brighton Rd resident Kerryn Woods, who was in the unusual situation of wishing a slip which stopped just on the border of his property had travelled just a little bit further.
Mr Woods and his family arrived home on Friday night after dark unaware a large slip on a neighbouring farm had brought a 1.5m high pile of dirt to within touching distance of the corner of his house.
It was only after the neighbours, who were worse affected and had selfevacuated, asked them if they realised there was a massive slip right next to their property that they realised what a precarious position they were in.
After an engineer said earlier in the week the house was not unsafe, a council geotechnical engineer who visited again yesterday issued a dangerous building notice.
Mr Woods was glad the building was considered unsafe given the clear risk of further slips, but was left in a difficult situation because the slip had not come down on to his property.
This potentially meant EQC would not cover the cost of making the property safe or buying a new property if that was not possible.
Ironically, Mr Woods believed his problem would have been simpler to solve if the slip had travelled slightly further and actually damaged his property.
vaughan.elder@odt.co.nz