Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is working with communities impacted by coastal hazards, and the wider Napier and Hastings community, are to identify immediate and future solutions to strengthen the coastline from the effects of erosion and inundation caused by rising sea levels.
After years of detailed studies and working closely with impacted communities, a joint committee of Tangata whenua, Napier City, Hastings District and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council recommended a range of different approaches in the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy 2120 – including natural barriers, built structures and, in the longer term, managed retreat.
The short term concepts have now been designed by technical experts, high-level costs have been determined and models for how the options might be funded are being identified, the Council said in a statement.
Regional Council Group Manager – Asset Management, Chris Dolley says this year’s focus is to work with the most impacted communities of Te Awanga, Haumoana, Westshore and Bay View, and ratepayers who may help fund the work, to decide which options they prefer and what they can afford.
“While the three councils are handling immediate issues right now, the strategy shows us how to deal with coastal problems over the coming years and decades. The focus this year is to refine and test the concepts so we can recommend preferred options to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, which will rate for and implement the strategy,” Mr Dolley says.
“We need to check what people can afford to pay. The economic conditions have changed a lot since we first looked at these options – Cyclone Gabrielle has been expensive to deal with. Protecting against coastal erosion and inundation will be costly. We need the community to tell us how they think we should pay for it.”
The partner councils convened four focus groups, one each from Te Awanga, Haumoana, Westshore and Bay View, which have been meeting regularly from May. They will continue to meet during the year to work on specific options proposed for their coastline.
A larger Community Reference Group (CRG) with members from affected communities and the wider Hastings and Napier areas also began meeting regularly in May. The group is reviewing focus group feedback and broader issues before recommending preferred options to Regional Council by the end of the year.
The broader community can also have their say through a public engagement campaign, which is set to start shortly.
Once Regional Council has recommendations from the engagement process, it will consider them along with its other priorities, then determine preferred options and funding approaches to go to formal consultation.
“The options we propose must work for impacted communities and be affordable, or the region will reject them,” Mr Dolley says.
