Waihi Beach residents are being encouraged to sit down and share their first-hand problems and concerns about their flood-prone community in a series of upcoming meetings.

The morning and afternoon tea meetings, held by Western Bay of Plenty District Council, aim to collect feedback as to the impact of the flooding, hear how individuals have been affected and what solutions can be found.

Waihi Beach, after the torrential floods last April.

Historically, Waihi Beach has been hit by flooding, largely due to some areas being built on low-lying ground, originally swamp land.

The 12 workshops will have a newsletter drop, starting Monday, to all residents and ratepayers at Waihi Beach to advise them of the dates and times of these meetings at the Waihi Beach Community Centre.

Spread from February 18 until March 2, the workshops will be limited to 10 people per session, giving individuals a chance to tell their stories, share their concerns and opinions and come up with possible solutions.

Waihi Beach Storm Water Action Team organiser Sue Hope encourages the community to make good use of the meetings in what is an opportunity to 'paint a better picture” of what is going on in the community.

'We are just going along making sure the remedies that have been suggested by us have been followed up. The remedies we have suggested may not be the right ones, but we want council to follow them through from the ideas from the community,” says Sue.

'Then they can be scrutinised and examined, because there are a lot of people that have had first-hand experiences that council aren't aware of; and they have solutions they can see will have an impact on where they are.”

In April, the beachside town was hit hard by torrential rain causing flash flooding and evacuations, which saw 250mm of rain dropped within 24 hours.

Along with another severe storm event during last year, the issue was brought to a head triggering emergency stormwater repairs of $330,000 and identifying a further $1m needed for stormwater improvements this financial year.

This round of community workshops is the start of a process that could take up to 18 months leading up to Council's three-yearly Long Term Plan review in 2015, where major funding decisions on preferred stormwater options for Waihi Beach could be made.

'We have been talking to council on a monthly basis and following up on the issues people have raised in our public meetings. Things have been positive,” says Sue.

Future capital investment in new stormwater infrastructure could reach $12 million, yet even this amount will not prevent many properties continuing to flood simply because of their low-lying location, says WBOPDC planning group spokesperson Miriam Taris.

Miriam says the informal and intimate nature of the community workshops enables council to hear the 'nitty-gritty” of problems and the particular concerns of individuals.

'In the past year, we have held many community-wide meetings in Waihi Beach to address the flooding and stormwater issues. We have found that large meetings aren't the answer to solving anything,” says Miriam.

'By having 12 meetings of small groups talking over a cuppa, people can share their experiences and council staff will get a better feel of the real issues and the concerns of residents in the worst affected areas.”

Each group workshop will be led by a local community person. Council's only involvement will be as a listening ear or to provide clarification.

Miriam says the workshops are not aiming to find solutions but are about hearing people's stories, understanding their concerns and determining what steps council can then take.

Information gathered from the 12 workshops will be collated, interpreted and assessed by Council staff and further community meetings will be held to reconsider the outcomes.

To find out more about the meetings, visit www.westernbay.govt.nz