A year since the most recent local body elections in Masterton, an unpleasant issue remains.
I refer, of course, to Cockburn St and its wastewater issues. Residents of the beleaguered street have been plagued with sewerage and its unpleasant contents flowing into their yards in severe rain for some years. But on Wednesday, a Masterton District Council [MDC] subcommittee was told that work still needs to be done. Questions were asked about whether every affected resident had been contacted.
While it is clear work has been done by MDC on some properties, it is not clear if the issue has been addressed for everyone affected – or even if each of the affected people has raised the issue with the council.
Earlier this year, the Times-Age ran a story about one resident in the area. She and her elderly father had been forced to use portaloos because their own wastewater system had become ineffective. She described how their toilet was unable to be flushed, and how the taps became inoperative. She even suspected wastewater might have come up the pipes into the kitchen sink. She described the difficulty her dad had going out into the flooded yard to use the temporary portaloo.
She is only one of a number of affected residents of the area.
Previously, media reports described how some residents took their concerns to the council at a meeting in April.
Residents at the time said they were at their wits’ end over repeated and long-term problems with raw sewage backing up and overflowing into their properties from the council’s wastewater network. Although the council had made improvements to the network, residents at that stage had no reprieve from the sewage overflows and were demanding an agreeable solution, the 1News Local Democracy Report said.
Subsequently, MDC have said they were in discussions with affected people, and some have certainly had fixes put in place. However, it seems unclear if everyone has had the fix. Could it be some residents for some reason have not come forward to complain but are still affected and suffering in silence?
The Times-Age also reported this year that a subdivision has been consented near the flood-prone area. MDC has explained that a range of safeguards are in place for these new builds to prevent and mitigate possible flooding issues, including strict timeframes to ensure proper infrastructure is in place.
The report to Wednesday’s MDC infrastructure and services committee was entitled ‘Cockburn Street Sewer Works’. It said there were seven tanks in the ground.
“These jobs will be complete once the last two driveways are reinstated. Three tanks pending installation. Discussions are ongoing with the owners to get permission to install them. Ten properties are being looked at for the next stage. Eight of these will be installation of a reflux valve only. Aiming to install all works during the summer season,” the report said.
The written report to the committee itself was brief. Is it time a comprehensive public report was presented about precisely how many people are affected by wastewater flooding, what the fix for each one is, and the timeframe for that fix? It should be achievable.
