Tauranga City Council’s latest proposed Plan Change 27 – Flooding from intense rainfall is one of the key levers to reduce the risk of flood hazards to people’s lives and property. In a growing city, it is crucial that council plans for the future, and ensures that new developments and redevelopments are managed in a safe manner. Changes to the city plan are one of many steps taken to improve Tauranga’s resilience to natural hazards. To give homeowners enough time to read about the proposed changes, have a conversation with council staff and to make a submission, the consultation period has been extended to Monday, 1 February 2021.
Plan Change 27 identifies where flood hazards (overland flowpaths, floodplains and flood prone areas) are located in Tauranga and is not about rezoning land. As a result, the plan change proposes rules required to manage land use and subdivision in those areas.
Council continuously works to improve the information held on natural hazards and their potential effects on our land. Between 2012 and 2019, information on natural hazards such as inundation, erosion and flooding from intense rainfall has been released to the community and been made available on Land Information Memoranda as soon as it became available. The flood modelling has been part of council’s ‘Integrated Stormwater Project’, which modelled and mapped the potential flooding across land in the city from 1-in-100-year storm.
The latest modelling now integrates the effect of climate change, such as increased heavy rainfall events and sea level rise, as required by the Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement. Where a change has occurred, the existing information has now been updated.
To understand the risk of flooding, council undertook city-wide risk assessments. These included flood modelling of the likely impacts of a 1-in-100-year rainfall event, a scenario Tauranga has not seen to date. It takes into account recorded rainfall data and flood levels from past events, the contours of the land and the capacity of the existing stormwater network; and it factors in the predicted effects of climate change on rainfall and sea level rise out to the year 2130. This meets the requirements of the Bay of Plenty Regional Policy Statement, requiring that risk is reduced over time.
The continuous updating of flooding information, including the rules proposed by Plan Change 27, are part of council’s wider programme of understanding and living with natural hazards. Plan Change 27 is one of the functions council is required to perform to meet the requirements of the Resource Management Act, and how it is able to consider planning for natural hazards and resilience under the Local Government Act. While the concerns of landowners are understandable, Tauranga City Council is required to do this work and to release new information when it becomes available.
With the plan change being related to water, under section 86B of the Resource Management Act, it takes legal effect from the date of notification. This is set down in law and council has no discretion over this. Therefore, proposed Plan Change 27 has had legal effect since Monday, 16 November 2020. This means that all resource and building consent applications, where required, should have regard to the proposed objectives, policies and rules from the date of public notification. If people are intending to lodge a building or resource consent application, the application is required to consider the proposed objectives, policies and rules of the proposed plan change.
To determine the effect any natural hazard information may have on a property’s value or insurance, we suggest that landowners seek professional advice from a property valuation or insurance expert.
While the plan change has had legal effect from 16 November, it is still subject to potential change through the submissions, hearings and final decisionmaking process which will occur over coming months. Anyone is invited to submit on the plan change, its proposed rules, objectives and policies. To give property owners enough time to read about the proposed changes, have a conversation with council staff and make a submission, the consultation period has been extended to Monday, 1 February 2021.
We encourage people to touch base with council if they:
- seek a review of the flooding that has been identified on their site. Property owners can email city.plan@tauranga.govt.nz with all relevant information available. Council will investigate and review the flooding that has been identified for the site. The maps provided at www.tauranga.govt.nz/floodmaps are non-statutory and can be reviewed on a property-specific basis outside the submission process.
- wish to make a submission on the proposed rules. Submit feedback online at www.tauranga.govt.nz/PC27, pick up a copy at council’s customer service centre or the city’s libraries and email it to city.plan@tauranga.govt.nz or post it to (no stamp required: Manager: City and Infrastructure Planning, Tauranga City Council, Freepost Authority Number 370, Private Bag 12022, Tauranga 3143.
- have any enquiries and wish to speak to council staff. Book online or ring council at 07 5777 000 to be booked in for a call. Bookings are available between Tuesday, 8 December and Friday, 11 December, from 8am to 1pm. Book online.
The consultation period extension also applies to Plan Change 26 – Housing choice and Plan Change 30 – Earthworks.