Photo of trench / ccc
Two high profile Christchurch MPs, including a Government Minister, have put their political differences aside throwing their support behind two city councillors in trouble for digging a trench to fix a ten year old flooding issue.
Councillor Phil Mauger (with the support of councillor James Daniels) used his company Maugers Contracting to dig a 70-metre-long trench on red zone land between Anzac Drive and Bexley Road.
They say the work fixed the flooding overnight.
Community advocates and residents agreed calling Chris Lynch’s radio show to applaud their efforts.
However, Council staff told the popular councillors they’re under investigation and could face legal action.
National Deputy Leader and Ilam MP Gerry Brownlee said “frankly I would give the council two fingers on this. It is an outrageous position of the council.”
Speaking on Chris Lynch’s radio show on Friday, Mr Brownlee said Chief Executive Dawn Baxendale should go talk to the staff members, give them a dressing down, and tell them the council is there to serve the people of Christchurch, and councillors are the elected representatives.
Christchurch East MP Poto Williams and National Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee (file photo)
Mr Brownlee said if councillors are having to do the job staff should be doing, then council bureaucracy is failing.
“If they dare to impose some kind of fine on these two guys, then I think we should have civil insurrection of the highest order”
He said people have tolerated the council’s behaviour for too long.
“They’re obstructive, they’re excessively bureaucratic, and they’re the epitome of the computer says no brigade.
Christchurch East MP and Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Poto Williams agreed.
Listen to Poto Williams and Gerry Brownlee on Canterbury Mornings with Chris Lynch
“Phil and James have tried to go through the council process, and through the system and it didn’t work and they’ve done a very public thing to out, what I’ve felt for many many years and that is the frustration of getting anything done by council.”
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration said she tried to organise a public meeting about the flooding issues on Pages Road and approached the office of the Chief Executive to request council staff attend. She says the answer was “no.”
Minister Williams said there are two councils in this city, elected members who want to do a good job, and then there’s the council bureaucracy.
“Officials should not run council, it should be local people making local decisions in their community.”
Meanwhile Newstalk ZB contributor Mike Yardley told Chris Lynch Christchurch has had a gutsful of “parasitic, power tripping, brick-wall building assholes at Hereford Street.”
Christchurch City Council responds
A Christchurch City Council spokeswoman said the land where the trench was dug is owned by Land Information New Zealand, on behalf of the Crown.
“The fact Phil Mauger is an elected official does not mean his actions should be viewed in a different light from those of any other individual.”
“Information we receive about unauthorised work that potentially impacts on our environment and waterways is generally investigated, no matter who is involved.”
The council spokeswoman said “this trench is potentially a safety hazard because the sides of the trench are unstable and a child could easily fall in.”
“A large amount of spoil from the trench has been left on the site. Underground cables have been severed in the digging of the trench and other buried articles such as glass and building materials have been exposed.”
“One of our main concerns is that because the trench runs through land that has been identified as containing old landfill materials and contaminated soils, it could be impacting on the health of the Ōtākaro Avon River.’’
The council claims the land where the trench was dug is very low-lying and has been prone to flooding since the earthquakes. “It also contains a number of broken and abandoned wastewater, stormwater and drinking water pipes.”
She said “NZTA is in the process of building a drain along Anzac Drive to help alleviate ponding issues at the Pages Road intersection.”
The Council is also investigating building-up the level of the Pages Road footpath to prevent recurrent flooding.
“This investigation work was in train before the trench was dug.”
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