Close to 50 homes in an Auckland suburb are being compulsorily bought to make way for new flood plains and uncover a buried stream.
By Amy Williams of RNZ
This is in Rānui, where some homeowners are relieved to get out, while others wish they could stay. It's just the start of Auckland Council's plan to reduce the risk in flood-prone areas of the region, and it says there are more property acquisitions ahead.
Emily Stewart, her husband and two children moved out of their house in Rānui's Clover Drive a few weeks ago.
It's been bought under the Public Works Act because a piped stream is being uncovered.
"The stream is going to come through approximately through here...right through our house."
On Sunday, the home was relocated to Waikato.
Stewart said they planned to sell the house three years ago before the storms hit - some of her neighbours had to kayak from their houses.
The Stewarts weren't eligible for a risky-home buyout, so had repairs done, then learned their house would be acquired to daylight a stream and create a flood plain.
The family has bought and moved to another part of the city.
"It's bittersweet because for three years we were just stuck in this limbo. Back in October, all of the houses in this crescent were still standing in various states of decay," Stewart said.
'We need this land' - council
Auckland Council's head of sustainable partnerships Tom Mansell said of the almost 50 homes required for flood plains in Rānui, half were state owned.
"Some of these properties, most of them have been flooded, some of them have been partially flooded, some of them haven't been flooded but we need this land to save other surrounding properties from flooding."
He said it would save 100 properties and also enable future development.
The Rānui Making Space for Water project is costing $85 million, of which most - close to $50m - is for buying properties.
"It's digging up the pipe, creating the flood plain, creating the stream, upgrading Don Buck Road bridge," Mansell said.
"It's transforming communities, it is disruptive, it is costly but moving forward with climate change and increased rainfall it is a new era in managing stormwater."
Mansell said negotiating with homeowners was a sensitive process.
"Some homeowners are relieved it is a way out, a fresh start for them and some not so much, it's really quite hard hitting. Some of them have been there 30 to 40 years and it's their home, there's a reluctance to leave."
He said there will be more homes acquired to make way for flood plains in coming years as the council confirms other projects.
"Overall, it creates more greenspace, creates resilient communities and it's the way of the future for managing stormwater."
Reluctant to leave
Another Clover Drive homeowner, Wayne Macdonald, didn't want to leave but accepted a Public Works Act buyout.
"I was hoping to stay," he said.
"I was disappointed, I like my house. I like its location, I like how it's close to everything and I didn't really look forward to looking for a new house and I'm struggling to find something."
He was aware the acquisition was compulsory and said the financial incentives for accepting a buyout within certain timeframes made it more attractive.
Macdonald said the plans to create a bigger stream and flood plain included walking paths and reserve areas.
"What they're doing is actually really nice and for a lot of neighbourhoods around, it's going to give them options. They're going to be able to walk away from the streets and pollution of the cars, kids are going to have areas to go play."
Further along the road, Donna Mather's home is not in a flood zone.
There are already many vacant plots from houses that were too risky to live in and she said having more homes go with compulsory acquisitions will change the neighbourhood.
"A lady friend up on Universal Drive, she will be moving because she was bought out. Apparently, her place is going to be a pond."
Under the Public Works Act, councils or agencies buying properties can only inform property owners - not tenants.
Stewart said this created problems on her street, because some neighbours were only recently informed by their landlords who have to give 90 days notice to end a tenancy.
"They were completely rug-pulled, like what's going on, what's happening I'm getting conflicting information."
She said that needed to change.
"What I'm seeing is that we are prioritising homeowners over people who are renting and that's not how this society should be supporting each other," Stewart said.
"The fact that I've been told that they are having to look at work-arounds means there's something wrong with the law. There is an oversight with the laws that they are bound by," she said.
"The way we can make change for the better for people is to say 'this isn't working'."
Mansell said the council strongly encouraged landlords to inform tenants if their house was being bought out - and tenants have access to financial support during the process.
"We encourage them strongly to talk to their tenants and we have a community advisory group which meets every two weeks...so we try and keep as much information about what we're doing, the overall layout of the project is out in the community," Mansell said.
"That's one way the information gets out but unfortunately we cannot contact the tenants directly, we have to go through the landlord."
The compulsory buyouts come as the region is under pressure to intensify housing and build more homes and the council was preparing plans to accommodate up to 2 million homes in coming decades.
However last month, Cabinet agreed to lower the maximum number of houses in Auckland from 2 million to at least 1.6 million.
Mansell said houses needed to be built in safe areas.
"The last thing we want to do is more development with houses in the wrong place in a danger zone so we are watching and working with this plan change. We don't want to create more issues moving forward."
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