Mayoral Relief Fund re-launched

Dunedin (Wednesday, 26 July 2017) – The Mayoral Relief Fund has been re-launched today to help residents badly affected by last week’s flooding.

Mayor of Dunedin Dave Cull says, “We don’t want any individual or family to fall through the cracks. It’s important we help people who are struggling to deal with the effects of this serious event, but with no other means of support.”

The fund is targeted at people who cannot receive assistance through other avenues, such as insurance. At this stage, there is $60,000 in the fund. People can apply for up to $5000 to complete essential work to get back into clean, habitable homes. Specific criteria apply.

More information will be available on the Dunedin City Council website tomorrow. Donations to the fund can be made directly to 03 0905 0184000 18.

The fund was set up initially following the June 2015 floods.

A public meeting is being held at 7pm tonight at the Coronation Hall, Mosgiel. DCC elected members and staff will be joined by Otago Regional Council representatives, who will talk about flood recovery work around Mosgiel and the Taieri Plain.

Dunedin City Council Recovery Manager Simon Pickford says since Saturday, building inspectors have been visiting and assessing damaged houses and properties and have been providing advice to those property owners. At least 40 properties have been visited so far. At this stage, four buildings still have dangerous building notices, requiring the occupants to vacate. These properties are all associated with land slips.

“If people are worried their home may be dangerous as a result of flooding/slips, we can arrange a building inspector to check this.”

Following more information and a flyover of flood-affected properties in the Henley and Taieri areas yesterday afternoon, residents evacuated from these properties are free to return, unless their property has been issued with a dangerous building notice. There is now access to Henley via the Henley Ferry bridge on Henley Road.

Residents can move back into their homes if they are safe and there are no health-related issues, e.g. sewerage systems are working and there is a safe water supply. If there are any issues, residents should check first with their insurance company to find out how they can help. If people have any questions or concerns please contact the DCC on 03 477 4000.

Infrastructure
Assessments on slips on roads around the city are being undertaken by DCC staff and geotechnical consultants. Priority has been given to areas where safety is of concern and where alternative routes may be compromised. Initial assessments at this stage focus on making the area safe and making roads accessible where possible.

Once we have collated a full list of slip sites and completed additional assessments, we will prioritise further work.

Some local roads remain closed – a full list of road closures and conditions is available online at www.dunedin.govt.nz/road-conditions.

Sandbag collection
We gave out more than 8000 sandbags over the weekend and will be collecting them from kerbsides in South Dunedin, Mosgiel and Outram this week. Please put sandbags on the kerbside by 7.30am on the days listed:
• South Dunedin – Thursday 27 July
• Mosgiel – Friday 28 July and Saturday 29 July
• Outram – Saturday 29 July

Sandbags can also be dropped off at collection points in these areas:
• South Dunedin
Thursday 27 July
9am – 4pm
Victoria Road car park

• Mosgiel
Friday 28 July and Saturday 29 July
9am – 4pm
Community pool car park

• Outram
Saturday 29 July
9am – 4pm
Outram rugby grounds

Please note this collection is for sand bags only.
Visit www.dunedin.govt.nz/floodrecovery for more information.

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