Residents in the Auckland suburb of Remuera say they're being plagued by dead eels, sewage floating down streams and smells so pungent it makes them gag.
The waterways around Hobson Bay have become a hotspot for faecal contamination, and it could be years before the water runs completely clear again.
[...]
Charlotte Winstone leads a walking school bus route along the adjacent Shore Road, and saw the effects worsening in weeks of dry weather leading up to the lockdown.
"We were literally all holding our noses as we walked past and it smelt really strongly of sewage. So that was a pretty horrible experience," she said.
The problem here is crumbling sewage infrastructure, caused by years of skimping on maintenance and delaying replacement. And the reason for that is decades of council austerity, caused by councillors who have sworn a blood oath to Keep Rates Low. Who elects those short-sighted morons? The voters of Remuera.
Remuera voters are getting exactly what they voted for. And if they don't like it, maybe they should vote for something different.