Public views sought on local flood plans (NRC media release 9 Sept)

Date: 09 September, 2010

Public meetings announced

(Far North meeting dates are below)

Residents of some of Northland’s most flood-prone communities are being invited to meet with local authorities to provide their feedback on more than 20 draft river management plans tailor-made for their local areas.

Over a month-long period beginning Tuesday September 14, the Northland Regional Council (NRC) will hold a series of 21 meetings around the region as part of a second round of public consultation under its ‘Priority Rivers Flood Risk Reduction Project’.

Bruce Howse, the Council’s Land/Rivers Senior Programme Manager, says the Council in 2008 identified 27 catchments around Northland as priorities for flood risk planning, all but a few in the Far North District. (The catchments were identified on the basis of the potential threat flooding poses to lives, buildings, road access, infrastructure and agriculture.)

Mr Howse says the NRC held an initial round of public consultation with the affected communities in late June and July last year to update existing knowledge about - and help find possible solutions to – flooding issues.

Following on from that consultation – and after months of extensive technical work, specialised surveying and computer modelling - the Council was now heading back out to those communities with a series of 22 tailor-made, draft river management plans.

“Each river management plan includes flood maps, an assessment of the risk associated with flooding and potential options for reducing that flood risk. In general, each catchment has its own management plan,” Mr Howse says.

He says the NRC is now keen to receive community feedback on those draft plans.

“The assessment of flood risk has involved extensive surveying of the river catchments and computer modeling of floodplains. This has been used to identify what assets are at risk, the options that might be most effective in protecting those assets and also ensuring that future development is less vulnerable to flooding.”

Mr Howse says last year’s round of public meetings had highlighted a number of concerns, including continued development in flood prone areas and associated infilling of floodplains. People were also keen to see an environmentally friendly approach adopted for managing flood risk wherever possible.

Options identified for reducing flood risk include changes in local authority planning processes to restrict future development in floodplains.

“In some cases, where development has already occurred in the floodplain, various forms of flood protection are proposed.”

Mr Howse says as proposed, the cost of implementing these measures will typically be borne by the local community through a targeted rate.

“As it’s the affected communities themselves that will bear most of the costs, it’s really important that people living in those communities have their say in relation to the options proposed.”

He says any changes to rates needed to implement the plans would also need to be consulted over through the Council’s formal Annual Plan process.

“The upcoming meetings are intended to give an overview of the relevant river management plan/s and the options. Copies of the plans will be available at each meeting, along with feedback forms which we’re hoping people will complete once they’ve been able to study the plan/s they have an interest in. “

People wanting to know more about the project can also visit the Council’s website: www.nrc.govt.nz/priorityrivers

A list of the public meetings (and relevant catchments) is below.

For further information please contact:

Bruce Howse
Land/Rivers Senior Programme Manager, Northland Regional Council

Ph: 0800 002 004 or (09) 438 4639