MP among local flood victims

The home of North Shore MP Simon Watts was among those flooded locally last week, in an unsettling repeat of the 27 January Anniversary Day flooding.

The deluge on 9 May created early afternoon chaos, with flooding at the New World carpark and outside the ferry terminal. Devonport Squash Club gym closed as its car park was underwater, as was Waitemata Golf Club and the Vauxhall Rd sports fields. Some sleep-outs and garages were flooded.

“To be honest, Devonport got off lightly,” Devonport Volunteer Fire Brigade principal officer in charge ,Warren Tucker, said. The main call dealt with by the brigade was flooding of three houses on Lake Rd, south of Takapuna Grammar, he said.

Other homes in Hauraki, Belmont and Bayswater were also affected.

The lower level of Watts’ home in Seacliffe Ave was again flooded, not long after an insurance claim was settled from damage caused by January flooding. Gib had been replaced but not the carpet.

He said drainage work would now be needed on his property to protect it in future.

Watts said his office was dealing with a number of constituents still waiting for insurance payouts. Getting tradespeople was a challenge.

“I know there’s a degree of anxiety and strain and stress in our community when it rains – and it will happen again,” said Watts, who is National’s climate change and local government spokesperson.

Key part of road-safety plan ‘on hold’

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A controversial plan to put a median strip, wider bus stop and raised crossing on a busy section of Victoria Rd, has been put on hold and is likely to be canned.

Speed and safety improvements to Victoria Rd are going ahead – but on a reduced scale from original Auckland Transport (AT) plans.

Details of the $3.3m project caused an uproar when the final design was revealed – especially plans for a median island, dedicated bus lane and a raised crossing near The Patriot pub.

This controversial “middle section’ of the project will be put on hold, while changes at the Calliope Rd and Kerr St intersections and on lower Victoria Rd will go ahead, AT confirmed to the Flagstaff. Work will start in late June/July.

If the modified works slow vehicle speeds in the village, the middle section may be put on

hold for good, AT said.

Many local businesses are fuming about the plans. Some felt the Devonport Business Association (DBA) failed to adequately keep them abreast of what AT was working out and the pushback to council was not strong enough.

And most questioned the need for the changes on Victoria Rd – which included a loss of 15 car parks.

The controversy also spread to the wider community, with a petition opposed to the changes eliciting more than 1000 responses.

A special general meeting of the DBA has been called on 1 June, to thrash out some resolutions to be put to AT.

But AT has already taken on most of the businesses’ concerns, with the decision to put off the middle section of the project.