Auckland Council has confirmed a limited one-off scheme for homeowners to repair slips on council road reserves from the 2023 North Island Weather Events affecting access to their properties.
Today, the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee voted for a one-off $5 million scheme to support property owners with private access impacted by slips on the road reserve. This will be accompanied by case management support through the consenting and approval process.
“This was an extremely difficult decision to make, and we know the support won’t be enough for some,” says Councillor Andy Baker, Chair of the Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee.
“Because the damage was caused by natural events and not due to the fault of anyone, it’s not within council’s responsibility, or budget, to repair these slips. But with the unique circumstances of these storms and the fact people can’t access their homes, we considered what we could do.”
Councillors made it clear that the funding up to $5 million will be ring-fenced to slips where there is an identified stability risk caused by the 2023 North Island Weather Events. It is a one-off, no fault, no liability support option, for those that don’t have access to Category 2P and Category 3 support. It will be funded from the local portion of the Crown-council funded transport network repairs programme.
“What we are trying to balance is helping these homeowners move forward with their lives, without creating an unintended burden on Aucklanders now and going forward. This is the best solution we could find and is not intended to set a precedent for future support,” says Councillor Baker.
“We thank the Stickered Titirangi Area Residents (STAR) group for working with Auckland Council and Auckland Transport to find a way forward for their community and other Aucklanders.”
The council and Auckland Transport will be working on the details and process for the scheme based on the direction set by the committee and will provide more details as soon as they can.
You can watch the committee meeting here and the meeting minutes will be posted on Auckland Council's website in the next few days.
