As new buildings continue to sprout up around Auckland, the council and local boards are working with builders and developers to stop hazardous substances from seeping into our waterways.
More than 13,000 consents for new homes were granted in Auckland last year. While that might be good for housing affordability, it’s not so good for the region’s waterways if builders and their subcontractors don’t carefully manage their building waste.
“We have seen sites with rubbish piled up everywhere, sediment washing off building sites into streams, and blocklayers cutting blocks and mixing concrete on roads which lead to waterways,” explains Steve Pearce, the council’s Regulatory Compliance Manager.
“All of that was ending up in our streams via the stormwater network. Our urban waterways are some of our most polluted, so we need to stop these pollutants getting into the water.”
Raising awareness with developers
As the scale of the problem became apparent to the council’s regulatory team, it launched a series of programmes to raise awareness with developers and builders, and prevent damage to the natural environment.
Local boards also rolled out the Small Builds Ambassador Programme to target the issue of building waste and sediment running into waterways. Working at a community level, the council’s regulatory team and local boards are finding the proactive approach is paying dividends.
“Historically, we only responded when there were complaints,” says Pearce. “But because we saw such a massive construction boom and with it a massive level of non-compliance, we identified which areas had the worst breaches and blitzed them: we went door-to-door, talked to builders and subcontractors, and issued abatement notices. Around two-thirds complied within a week.”
The local angle
Local boards have been instrumental in carrying out these inspections, including in Flat Bush, where the first local programme was launched in January 2018 after 398 of 400 sites were found to be non-compliant.
“We are one of the fastest growing areas in Auckland,” explains Howick Local Board Chair David Collings. “We are also the largest special housing area in the city. There is a huge amount of construction going on. Last year we carried out a spot check and more than a dozen sites in one street were in breach of the rules, despite warnings and a campaign to educate builders in the area.”
The compliance and education programme has now been rolled out to other areas including Takanini, Long Bay, Millwater, Pukekohe, Huapai and Hobsonville. Local boards hope that educating builders about damaging practices will stop pollutants entering waterways. And Pearce says the council will issue fines or even prosecute offenders under the Resource Management Act if it has to.
“Since the programme started, we have issued around 1600 abatement notices, and infringement fines are $750 each. It is a zero-tolerance approach – we are working hard with small building sites to help them comply and we will act against people who continue to flout regulations and cause damage to our waterways. We haven’t prosecuted anybody yet but that is a tool in our back pocket.”
The council is also working with construction and demolition industry leaders to manage building site waste and every year helps major earthworks companies catch up on the innovations.
Everyone can help protect our waterways
Talking to developers is important, Pearce says, but his team wants everyone to help protect their local waterways.
“If you see anything that you think could be doing damage, call us on 09 301 0101, or if you’re a local builder or subcontractor and want more information on what you need to do on a building site, everything is on the Auckland Council website.”
The council’s initiative has helped keep waterways free from construction waste and runoff, but there’s still more that can be done, and local boards are supporting the work of the Small Builds Ambassador Programme.
“The really pleasing thing to see is that entire subdivisions are better now than they were 12 months ago,” Pearce says.
“The next challenge for us is to make sure it continues.”
Clean, healthy water is essential to our future. As our region continues to grow and change, we need to look after this precious taonga. Visit akhaveyoursay.nz to have your say on how we should waterproof our future. Feedback is open until 19 April. Read more about the Our Water Future: Auckland's water discussion on OurAuckland.
