Skips provided to help flood recovery

A cleared slip on Cape Saunders Rd after flooding on Tuesday. PHOTOS: PETER MCINTOSH

As the cleanup after last week’s flooding continues, the Dunedin City Council is making skips available in key locations around the city.

Eight skips are now available to dispose of flood-contaminated waste at the below locations in South Dunedin, Tomahawk and Waikouaiti.

They will be emptied regularly and then removed on Friday afternoon.

In a statement, Dunedin city council recovery manager Rob West said the skips being provided for residents in affected areas were intended for flood-contaminated waste only, such as soaked carpets or furniture.

"These skips are not meant for general household rubbish, which will continue to be collected in the normal way on your regular kerbside collection day.

"Please only use these skips for their intended purpose so there is space for everyone who needs them."

He asked people living outside of those areas to take flood-contaminated items to the Green Island transfer station for disposal.

Sandbags could be returned to the Dunedin Ice Stadium or Mosgiel Memorial Park gym carpark for disposal.

"Don’t forget to wear gloves when handling flood-contaminated items and make sure to wash your hands afterwards," he said.

All water boil, conservation and water restrictions across Dunedin city have now been lifted.

All beaches have returned to satisfactory water quality levels, but the Tomahawk Reserve Beach Access Track has been damaged by wash outs.

Council building inspectors have now completed rapid inspections at 60 properties across Dunedin.

A contractor water blasts the footpath after flooding in Macandrew Bay on Tuesday.

The inspections resulted in 11 properties being red stickered, 31 properties yellow stickered, 13 properties white stickered and five properties requiring no sticker.

Advice for people needing financial assistance following the flood is to contact their insurance company in the first instance.

Help is also available via Work and Income and Civil Defence payments.

"On behalf of the Dunedin City Council, I want to thank everyone for coming together as a community to support each other during this event, and their patience and understanding during the recovery phase," Mr West said.

"I also want to thank everyone for the support they’ve shown to our staff and contractors, who have gone above and beyond to support our community during this difficult period. It’s really nice to see those efforts acknowledged by our community, and we thank everyone for their kind words."