Councillor slams $2.4b South Dunedin flood plan as climate overreach

A proposed multi-billion-dollar flood mitigation plan for South Dunedin is facing mounting criticism from local leaders and engineering experts who argue the suburb’s flooding problems have been caused by decades of infrastructure neglect, rather than climate change.

The South Dunedin Future programme has presented three options for the suburb, costing between $1.6 billion and $2.4 billion. All three proposals involve the potential buyout or removal of between 1,100 and 1,700 properties, alongside measures which include wetlands, canals, green spaces and upgraded pumping infrastructure.

Speaking to RCR, Dunedin City Councillor Jo Geller questioned both the process and the assumptions underpinning the proposals. “Residents discovered their homes could be affected through media reports before elected councillors had even voted on whether consultation should proceed,” Galer said. She argues that longstanding drainage and stormwater issues have been overshadowed by climate change-focused planning.

Galer’s concerns have been echoed by retired flood engineer Neil Johnstone, who spent 30 years with the Otago Catchment Board and Otago Regional Council. He said South Dunedin’s flooding problems can be traced back to the 1960s, when natural drainage systems were replaced with an inadequate network of pipes and pumps. “South Dunedin floods currently because it has a woefully inadequate pipe and pump system,” Johnstone said. He explained that decades of land reclamation, commercial development, and intensified housing have dramatically increased impermeable surfaces, overwhelming infrastructure that was already failing to cope.

Johnstone argued recent floods were not evidence of unprecedented climate-driven weather events, but rather the predictable result of a drainage network that has steadily deteriorated in effectiveness. “The system was designed for 210 hectares of impermeable surface. It now has to accommodate about 380 hectares,” he said.

The Dunedin City Council (DCC) is expected to decide this week whether to advance the proposal to public consultation, setting up what critics predict will be a highly contested debate over the future of South Dunedin. An ordinary council meeting will be held today at the Council Chamber at Dunedin Public Art Gallery (the Octagon) to consider the proposals by the South Dunedin Future programme. A Public Forum is scheduled at the start of the meeting which commences at 8.30am, which can be livestreamed via this link.

Watch RCR’s interview with Jo Galer or Neil Johnstone’s interview with RCR, view the full DCC meeting agenda and reports at Dunedin.govt.nz.

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