Mill Creek residents and businesses say flooding in Pembroke is more than an inconvenience — it’s a safety hazard.

Ed Faries of Tops Ltd, one of 20 Mill Creek Road businesses and residents who have come together to protest at a lack of action, said the regular flooding is both costly and dangerous.

In addition to costing the companies as much as $40,000 in business each day there is severe flooding, Mr Faries noted that waters can sometimes rise three feet above the road level, potentially preventing emergency vehicles from reaching the area.

“We feel that it’s become so bad that it’s come to a head,” he said. “Our livelihoods are in jeopardy, the safety of the 500 staff plus a resident are at risk. It’s becoming dangerous, not just inconvenient.”

Flooding in the Mill Creek area has been a concern for more than 13 years, with businesses in the area meeting with Government regularly since 2002.

A ten-point action plan was developed in 2004 and, while some work was done, the vast majority of the points listed in the plan have yet to be addressed.

Mr Faries said that as Hamilton has continued to develop with a greater amount of infilling, the flooding has only worsened with more and more water draining into the canal. As a result flooding has worsened throughout Hamilton, particularly on Bakery Lane, Dundonald Street, Bernard Park, Woodlands Road and the BAA field area.

“There are so many places that are being flooded,” he said. “If we can fix the problem here, it fixes all of those problems in Pembroke, so why not try to get it done. At least one or two of the things on the list. If it wasn’t getting worse than we would probably grin and bear it, but we can’t.

“The flooding is getting worse now. It’s the run-off. There’s literally nowhere else for it to go. There’s a Government document from 2008 which states that no run-off will be allowed into the canal, but that’s been completely ignored.”

He said business most recently met with the Minister of Public Works in July, and were promised a response within two weeks with options and pricing. They sent a follow-up later in September requesting communication on the matter, but received no response.

A particular concern that Mr Faries expressed is the difficulty that emergency services would have trouble reaching the area when it is flooded.

“Lets say an accident happened right now and the road was flooded,” he said. “An ambulance can’t make it, so what next? A boat?”

He said that they have discussed raising the road, but in order to do so they need Government to raise the canal.

“We are willing to kick in and help, but we need Government on board,” he said. “And the maintenance needs to be done as well. The more the sluice gate gets clogged up, the less water gets out. It’s getting worse and worse.

“We are willing to put money in it. We are not asking for a free ride. If we owned the canal, we could do the whole thing, but that would be to fix our problem. What does that do for Bakery Lane? Bernard Park?

“There are several hundred thousand gallons of water in that road. If we take that road and bank it up, guess what? Those thousands of gallons of water are going to be pushed even further up. This is not just a Mill Pond problem. It’s a Pembroke problem.”

In response to the concerns, a Ministry of Public Works spokeswoman noted the instillation of a sluice gate three years ago to help prevent flooding, but that Government simply does not have the finances to keep the flooding at bay.”

“The Mill Creek industrial area is built on low-lying land which makes flooding extremely problematic, especially when high tide is combined with excessive rain, as water flows over the sluice gate,” she said. “Unfortunately we just don’t have the money to make the kinds of infrastructure changes required to keep flooding at bay.

“An engineer will be in touch with the local businesses about the flooding but the private sector must take ownership of this issue as Mill Creek Road is a private road. Teams will be going to investigate the sluice gate to see if we can provide support in any way but a collective effort should be made on behalf of the businesses in that immediate area. We are assisting and cooperating where we can.

“A long-term infrastructure plan will be created to alleviate that water flow.”