Some of those attending the first public meeting of West Auckland is Flooding. Photo: RNZ / Mahvash Ikram
Hundreds of West Auckland residents have launched a petition calling for a government-funded managed retreat programme.
The petition which was launched at a public meeting on Saturday already has more than 630 signatures.
The Tirimoana School hall was packed to the rafters for the first public meeting of advocacy group West Auckland is Flooding - WAIF.
"I am so tired. It's stressful" - Homeowner Nicola Farley
Six politicians, two local board members and two senior council staff were present as nearly 200 people attended the event.
Several residents described the state of their homes as uninhabitable, irrespective of the council placard they were issued with.
The scene in Henderson Valley in West Auckland at Auckland Anniversary weekend. Photo: Supplied
Nicola Farley said her home was white-stickered, but it was so damaged there was no way she could live there.
She said her insurer has just told her that flood cover might be excluded from her policy next year.
"My floors will have to be ripped out. I have two sons who have PTSD from the first flood. And then this happened again.
"And they're like 'Mum, just sell the house, just sell it'.
"I can't sell it in the state that it's in and who's going to want to buy it?
"I am so tired. It's stressful. I'm not living with my kids at the moment, so I'm living with my mum. My mum's house doesn't have enough room so I only get to see my kids on the weekends."
Mark Cubit said his home has flooded twice in two years.
In 2021 council put a yellow sticker on his property, but this time he had been issued with a white one.
He said he cannot live at home because sewerage went right through his house during the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods.
He said living in his home was a health risk.
As for his requests for a council reassessment, he said they had fallen on deaf ears.
"The problem is the council this time sent out building inspectors to our place to have a look at it and they were only interested in the structure of the building.
"But the council's regulations say a yellow sticker is a hazard. It doesn't specify just the building hazard. It's a hazard. Black water is a health hazard," he said.
"White sticker means we can live in the house, but we can't because it's full of mould.
"So my argument to them was if I if I could live in the house, then I can put tenants in the house. But if I put tenants in the house with black mould under the Healthy Homes Regulation, I would be fined by the council or the government."
WAIF chairperson Lyall Carter told the audience there was only one solution.
"Managed retreat is the only option.
"We believe that a fair and equitable process must be established to identify the most flood-affected homes for buyout for retreat on a voluntary basis," he said.
At the meeting, WAIF launched an online petition calling on the government for a managed retreat programme.
But that was not their only demand.
"We're asking for a bipartisan approach to manage retreat, and then we're asking for the maintenance of streams and waterways.
"And then also we're asking for a financial package for those homeowners and residents that have been displaced from their homes and are living in rental accommodation and the insurance payout for accommodation is running out."
Maintenance expensive - Auckland Council
Auckland Council staff told the residents there are more than 17,000km of streams in Auckland and maintenance was expensive so must be carried out based on priority.
But that was not enough to convince West Auckland MP Phil Twyford or the audience.
"We are undoubtedly gonna see more events like what happened on 27 January. But you have been let down by poor governments and poor policy."
Twyford said the council should not be let off the hook.
"The great majority of those, that 17,000 kilometres of stream are not in the city, they're out in the countryside, so if we're talking urban streams, it's much less than that.
"But the council can't be allowed to wash its hands of responsibility for maintaining urban streams that are as much or part of the urban stormwater network as the pipes and the culverts."
WAIF believes upkeep of streams was a job better handled by central government.