Flooded driveway fiasco, Michele asks neighbours for fix

BY JULIA WADE

27 Mar, 2023

While the earth appears to be finally drying out and life returning to a sense of norm following weeks of wild wet weather, driveway drainage issues mean one local woman is still having to step into a pair of gumboots just to get in and out of her home.

After ‘being hammered’ by Cyclone Gabrielle, the only liquified, muddy area left post-storm along the driveway of Michele Cooke’s 55 acres is a long section bordering – and running parallel to – a large berm on her neighbour’s property, Tara Iti Golf Club.

The long-term Black Swamp Road resident, who has lived on her land for 30-odd years, believes the culprit of her mud-slick driveway is a drainage problem with the 3m high, approximately 100m long berm which was built by Tara Iti three years ago. As the accessway to her home is still inaccessible by vehicle, the 60-something-year-old has had to lay corrugated iron sheets and planks of wood down on the grass driveway leading to her home: “For this whole month I've had to carry supplies, LPG tanks, groceries, everything through here.”

Experiencing extensive flooding through the recent storms, with Kaiwaka’s Civil Defence having to leave her food parcels at her front gate, Michele’s current mud issues began when she realised her property had all but dried out except the driveway in front of the berm. On climbing the high grass wall, she discovered ‘a massive lake’ had banked up along the berm on her neighbour’s property, covering their service route, Harbour Road, as well as the company’s helipad.

“I rang Tara Iti office and suggested this berm has created a problem for both of us and let's work together to drain it,” she says. “The next day they started pumping water from the helipad. Unfortunately, they pumped to the southern end of their property to a field where it ran into a drain that flows back down to my front door. I came home in the afternoon to knee-deep water… the guy who was pumping water had no idea he was basically pumping it directly back to me the whole day.”

Formed of thick kikuyu, sandstone – ‘18 semi-truck loads’ – and a lime base, Michelle’s driveway has been examined by roading contractors who are adamant the accessway cannot be dug out, prepped and fixed until it dries out, she says. A suggestion of digging large sump pits to drain the invasive water into before pumping it away, would cost her thousands.

Throughout the decades living on her land, when mature pines once stood tall where the berm now lies, Michelle says flooding had never been a problem, ‘it would rain, flow through into my drains and be gone’. While acknowledging the recent weather bombs might be a one-off event, she has been advised that a berm the size of Tara Iti’s is supposed to have draining within it, ‘you can't create a dam like this’.

“They built the berm, which was wonderful for privacy, but I don't think they ever considered their landscaping would result in dips and hollows that the former water reservoir would require to go,” she says. “As they've gone to a lot of effort on their land and it looks really nice and it'd be a shame to rip it up, I’ve suggested that they cut a trench along the bottom of the berm on my side and then do a three-metre trench into one of the current drains so when it rains, they won’t have any flood water on the pad and my driveway won’t turn to mud.”

At first Michelle’s contact with Tara Iti was ‘really excellent, they got on to it straight away, called me back, made sure it's been dealt with,’ however communication in recent weeks has abated with the last message received saying that the matter has been referred to the course manager and will be looked into once they've finished cleaning up the course.

“The loggers clearing the fallen trees over there have been told they have at least a minimum three-month contract to clear all the damage,” Michele says. “My problem is we're now four weeks after the cyclone downpour and my driveway hasn’t had the chance to dry out and now its liquified. They don't have water on their service road anymore but they still have water over there and it's still seeping through their berm, to me.

“I've lost income because my tenants might have to leave, I've lost access, I've basically lost my home – if we don’t have a long enough dry period for me to repair my driveway before winter I will be dealing with all of the water flooding and I'll have to look at moving out."

1:

A corrugated iron path is the only way to and from 65-year-old Michele Cooke’s home post-storms, due to what she believes is ongoing seepage from her neighbours large berm. She’s had to carry supplies in. PHOTO/JULIA WADE

2:

Constant pools of water have also killed several fruit trees, they’ve simply drowned. PHOTO/JULIA WADE

“For this whole month I've had to carry supplies, LPG tanks, groceries, everything through here.”