Council supports adaptation plan for coastal community

Waikato Regional Council is supporting public consultation on one of the first community adaptation plans for the Waikato, while acknowledging that the number of such plans will only increase in the future.

The Wharekawa Coast 2120 Community Plan, a non-regulatory plan that recommends community responses to freshwater flooding, coastal inundation and coastal erosion along the western coastline of the Firth of Thames, was presented at the full council meeting on Thursday last week.

The plan, driven by the communities after a severe flooding event in January 2018, has been developed by Hauraki District Council in partnership with iwi, Waikato District Council and Waikato Regional Council, and with input from a technical advisory group that includes regional council’s staff. In particular, the council’s regional resilience team led the development of a natural hazards risk assessment to determine the communities’ thresholds for major and moderate events.

The plan includes recommended actions and steps that the communities would like to see implemented to adapt to natural hazards and climate change risk for increased resilience and sustainable economic opportunities.

Some of their preferred actions may be a regional council responsibility and have associated costs.

Policy Implementation Team Leader Alejandro Cifuentes told councillors that where a council was identified as a lead agency, that did not necessarily mean action would take place or be fully funded by that council.

He said the funding of options and interventions would need to go through additional processes and include consideration of whether a targeted rate would apply.

Chair Pamela Storey said adaptation planning was becoming a common conversation, “especially given the significant coastal area we have here in the Waikato region”.

Council staff have been working on adaptation planning with Waikato District Council, Hauraki District Council Thames-Coromandel District Council for various coastal and river/floodplain communities.

“The council recognises that working with communities, partnerships with Māori and a whole-of-government approach are essential to address the impacts of climate change that threaten community resilience and wellbeing, infrastructure, the environment and our economy,” said Cr Storey.

“These issues require long-term thinking and planning that considers whether and where our affected communities can evolve and grow.”

The August council meeting was livestreamed - see below. 

A community drop-in session for feedback on the community plan is being held at the Kaiaua Community Hall on Saturday at 10am.