Yesterday, for the sixth time in recent years, he was out in the rain dealing with the aftermath of the culvert beside his Lindsay St, Caversham, home overflowing.
"Everyone is sick of it," he said.
Mr Pearce moved in to his property 13 years ago and had no issues with stormwater until about eight years ago.
"The culvert gets totally blocked up, and the only thing I can put it down to is the volume of building up in Mornington because it just can’t cope with that volume of water."
His property is not the only one affected by the overflowing culvert issue.
His neighbours and several other properties in the street have regularly had to deal with cascading mud, rocks and water. Similarly, residents further down the hill in Rockyside Tce have their land swamped, and in severe downpours the debris ends up all the way down on to the Southern Motorway.
"Everyone in the neighbourhood has told them [Dunedin City Council] about it and the EQ have made payouts for damaged properties, but the issue persists."
‘‘Because of the camber of the hill, it affects everyone," he said.
"They have put an extra retaining wall in and made the kerbing a lot bigger, so they are aware of the issue, but all they are doing is putting a Bandaid on it ... It can’t handle the volume of water which comes down here."
Large pieces of debris came down the culvert, and yesterday Mr Pearce found a wood chipper washed down on to the road.
"It just shows you how strong the water flow is, that it can pick up something that heavy and take it with it."
The Dunedin City Council was unable to comment about the culvert issue last night.
