An advisory panel set up to represent the community has started getting out and about at markets, libraries, and community board meetings to hear the community’s views on how the district should respond to coastal hazards from sea level rise.

Kāpiti Coast District Council coastal manager Lyndsey Craig said getting the Takutai Kāpiti Coastal Advisory Panel into the community was a major milestone for the project which aims to help the Council develop ways of adapting to coastal erosion and inundation from rising seas due to climate change.

“While there is still much uncertainty about how significant these challenges will be and how quickly they will happen, climate change effects need to be anticipated, prioritised and planned for so we minimise the potential impacts on our community,” Ms Craig said.

“Everyone is affected as we all pay when Council has to repair, replace or relocate community infrastructure like accessways, roads, pipes, and parks as climate change brings more extreme and frequent storms and rising seas.

“We need a response that has wide understanding, which is why we worked with iwi, community groups and local and regional council staff to set up an independent panel to be the voice of our community.”

Delays in engaging with the public due to Covid-19 restrictions were hopefully over, she said. The panel was keen to raise its profile and hear from locals on their concerns about coastal hazards.

“The panel is being guided by various technical experts through the complex scientific, economic, social, cultural and planning issues they need to be aware of as they consider the different options for responding to coastal hazards. I’m excited that the community will have opportunity to also hear directly from those experts at our public information meeting in July.

‘’Projects like Takutai Kāpiti need the three baskets of knowledge to meaningfully succeed: indigenous knowledge, technical expertise and community input.”

“In the end this is all about people working together to come up with a framework that enables our community to develop enduring solutions rather than leaving it keep leaving it for future residents and ratepayers to deal with. Communities that plan for change are more resilient when we need to respond.”

Drop in to chat with some of the panel members at the Paraparaumu Library meeting room off the main entrance this Saturday (11 June) from 10am-12noon.

Check the panel’s full event schedule on the Takutai Kāpiti website at takuktaikapiti.nz/schedule.

A Kāpiti-wide public information session on coastal hazards will be held next month (Saturday 23 July) from 11am-2pm at the Ocean Road community centre, Paraparaumu Beach.

The panel also invites the community’s ideas online at HaveYourSay.kapiticoast.govt.nz/coastal.

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