A new culvert at One Mile Creek is set to provide Waihi Beach residents with greater protection against flooding.

The large $380,000 structure on Beach Road is one of Western Bay of Plenty District Council's 'big ticket items” to address the community's plea for following multiple flooding occurrences in the area.

Large scale flooding devastated Waihi Beach in 2013.

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

In April 2013, the beachside town was hit hard by torrential rain causing flash flooding and evacuations, which saw 250mm of rain dropped within 24 hours.

Since then, Waihi Beach residents have sat down and shared their first-hand problems and concerns about their flood-prone community in a series of meetings with council. The meetings allowed council to collate feedback as to the impact of the flooding and what solutions can be found.

Council's utilities manager Kelvin Hill says the new culvert replaced two round pipes, 900ml in diameter each, under the Beach Road bridge.

It allows for increased capacity from the Waihi Beach dam and will reduce the chance of overspills at the bridge.

'This was something the community felt really strongly about. It was an ongoing problem for them, so it was important we listened,” says Kelvin.

Last month, council also adopted its 2015-2025 Long Term Plan which saw significant investment in stormwater projects including, additional works at Two Mile Creek, Waihi Beach and a house-raising consent fee waiver for at-risk properties.

Kelvin says with the previous twin culverts being undersize, debris was coming down from the upper catchment areas and blocking the culvert.

With the final touches to the rectangular culvert underway this shouldn't be a problem in the future.

'During heavy rain events now we shouldn't get that same amount of water bridging up and back flow into the holiday park area,” explains Kelvin.

'It should discharge a lot better into the harbour. We have had a few rainfalls so far but nothing to really test it.”

Kelvin says the rectangular culvert is taller than it's supposed to be, extending the project finish time slightly.

'During construction, we discovered some unsuitable ground conditions, which led to the culvert being built 300ml higher than originally planned.”

'The final touches to the work are being completed now. People will notice a difference straight away.”

Work is expected to be finished late this month.