19 November 2015

Government must take heed of warnings to manage sea levels rising using a considered approach

Property Council welcomes a report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment urging early planning and management for towns that will be affected by rising sea levels in coastal areas.

Preparing New Zealand for rising seas: certainty and uncertainty report highlights the economic and fiscal risks associated with rising sea levels, and says liability should be included in planning and investment decisions.

According to Property Council, the report is correct to emphasise the importance of Government engaging local government, infrastructure providers, coastal residents and landowners, and insurance companies and banks earlier rather than later, and to take the time to do it well.

Property Council chief executive Connal Townsend says the most important aspect of dealing with this inevitable situation is early planning and management.

“We are very happy with the report’s recommendations that the Finance Minister set up a working group to assess and prepare for the economic and fiscal implications of sea level rises.

“The report points to significant costs of adapting to this environmental event. We have built thousands of homes, businesses and infrastructure on low-lying land that’s too close to the coast.

“But it also recognises that councils must be careful when planning, as too many restrictions on developments that are premature or overly precautionary will result in lost opportunities.”

“In particular we support the call to the Minister for the Environment to review the Government’s direction to specify the planning horizons which are appropriate for different types of development.

“We strongly endorse the Commissioner’s call to take a considered approach by not rushing and taking the time to plan and address the impacts of sea level rise well.”

The report also points to inconsistencies in the way councils assess risks associated with sea level rise, and calls for developing nationally consistent research and data analysis protocols.

“If we are going to make decisions which will impact entire communities, we need to ensure that they are made following consistent, robust and rigorous research and analysis, to produce outcomes are relevant, fair and appropriate for everybody involved.”

Property Council also supports the calls to:

Set up standard process for councils’ engagement with coastal communities.

Specify councils develop whole coast plans for dealing with sea level rise, and expand coastal monitoring systems to enable adaptive management.

Remove direction on the issue from the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement and put it into another National Policy Statement, such as the one planned for natural hazards.

Direct officials to address the matters raised in the report in the revision of the 2008 MfE Guidance Manual.

Ministry for the Environment to work with Land Information New Zealand and other relevant agencies for a national databank on elevated areas.

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