They have also sought reassurance development in Dunedin has been happening within the rules.
Dunedin city councillor Jim O’Malley said some green space was needed for surface water to soak into, even in areas where more intensified housing existed, and pervasive paving worked against what was needed.
"We’ve got some areas where that hard surfacing is a real issue for stormwater control," he said.
South Dunedin is highly reliant on stormwater networks and accommodating water is a mounting concern amid climate change, but Cr O’Malley said other areas of concern included Kaikorai Valley and Mosgiel.
Cr David Benson-Pope highlighted ground saturation and speed of runoff.
"It’s quite an issue, especially in the south [of the city], where most of these developments are happening," he said.
The Dunedin City Council is looking into how it could change its district plan to better protect built heritage and manage design improvements for residential multi-unit developments.
The council decided this week to initiate a plan change and this prompted discussion about enforcement of the rules.
Cr O’Malley said he and Cr Benson-Pope felt hard-surfacing rules had been breached and "we don’t seem to have an enforcement component".
Cr Benson-Pope said he had submitted photographs to staff of what he considered to be clear breaches of maximum site coverage rules and he asked if re-submitting them would lead to investigation and possible enforcement action.
He received an assurance about this.
Asked for more information, a council spokesman said yesterday complaints had been looked into.
"We take any breach of our district plan rules seriously and we will investigate when we become aware of potential issues," he said.
The spokesman said fewer than 10 complaints had been received alleging breaches of district plan impermeable surface and site coverage requirements, and subsequent investigations found no breaches of the rules.
"In some cases, this can be due to developments occurring before our current rules on impermeable surfaces came into force," he said.
"Staff are awaiting further information about the latest alleged breaches and will investigate as required."
Cr O’Malley said the two councillors would keep raising the issue until they saw enforcement or they were satisfied everything was legitimate.
South Dunedin Community Network board member Eleanor Doig said clear guidelines were required and they needed to be enforceable.
"The more concrete there is around the place, the more we suffer," she said.
It was also important for property owners and residents to learn how they might participate in solutions, such as through appropriate planting, she said.
Ms Doig would like to see a programme in which rainwater harvesting tanks are subsidised.
