The City Council may ask Christchurch MPs to take a Private Members Bill to Parliament in a bid to speed up protection work for the area known as the Flockton Basin.
The area sank during the earthquakes and has flooded five times since then. Dudley Creek was subsequently cleared of 5000 tonnes of silt but what happened to the Flockton Street area and other parts of Christchurch during the flooding on March 4 and 5 was “soul destroying” according to the Prime Minister, John Key.
The floods have been rated by the council as a “one in 100 year” flood and comparisons made with flooding in 1975.
CCC staff have been given two weeks to report back on two options for the area:
- Pumping station and bypass
- Upgrading Dudley Creek channel to increase its capacity
However, even if this work is sped up it will still take a couple of years to complete. In the meantime the council may use bunds and pumps to deal with the flooding.
This article has been largely sourced from The Press online
