Auckland anniversary flooding: Capped fund allows some homeowners to start repairs

Part of the Stickered Area Residents Group at an earlier meeting with Auckland Council.
Photo: RNZ/Maia Ingoe

• A group of homeowners in West Auckland are being hit by storm damage to council-owned land
• They have told Auckland Council they have fallen through the gaps in recovery funding
• An Auckland Council committee meeting has voted to establish a capped fund to help residents

Auckland homeowners still affected by unrepaired storm damage on council-owned land say a one-off fund to support the repairs of some properties is a start to getting on with their lives.

The group of Titirangi residents told Auckland Council this last month they have fallen through the gaps in recovery funding from the Auckland Jubilee floods last year.

The council estimates that 40 to 50 homes have been affected by unrepaired slips on council-owned road reserve land.

The Transportation, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee voted Thursday to create a one-time scheme, using $5 million in existing recovery funding, for property owners who have blocked access so they can make repairs.

The residents, brought together under the Stickered Area Residents Group, packed the Auckland Town Hall meeting room.

Tony Proffit, left, and Thibault Beaujot are among the affected residents.
Photo: RNZ/Maia Ingoe

Ahead of the vote, residents Tony Proffit and Thibault Beaujot urged council to vote for Auckland Transport to carry out its own repairs on the road reserve land.

“Today is not about playing politics or pushing individual agendas. Today is not about division or delay. Today is about doing what’s right for the people you represent. The families, the children, the elderly, the vulnerable people who have waited this moment with hope, grace and patience,” Thibault said.

But realizing this was not recommended by city officials, they asked the council to vote to use a pool of surplus money to create a new, one-time grant.

After much deliberation on a decision, the council voted to establish a one-off scheme, with a limited budget of $5 million, drawn from the Transport Flood Recovery Fund.

It is limited to repairing damage from the 2023 storms, and will only provide funding for properties whose access is blocked by damage to council-owned land.

Details of the plan have yet to be finalized, but resident Tony Proffit said it still leaves some residents in the dark – those with homes at risk from slips and other damage from the floods and who cannot access the financing .

“About 50 percent of people get this funding, and the other half don’t,” he said.

“At the moment they have restricted access to people whose homes are at risk due to the stability of the council land are not being picked up.”

Proffit said they will continue to work with councilors, and with Auckland Transport, to find a way for the funds to support the whole group – and that they want to push for government funding.

“This is a starting point, it gets the money on the table, and we will continue to work very closely with the decision makers to agree on how those funds should be distributed.

“We were willing to be patient, but now we can move forward with this.”

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