School’s proposed new site in f lood zone

The proposed new site for Redcliffs School is in a coastal hazard zone where repeated flooding may cause ‘‘operational issues’’, the Christchurch City Council says.

Parts of the school, including its main vehicle entrance, would be subject to ‘‘very frequent coastal flooding’’. Earlier acknowledgement by authorities ‘‘understated’’ the flooding risk, it said.

The council has submitted on a draft Regenerate Christchurch proposal, which was on behalf of the Ministry of Education, to use its powers to allow the school to move.

It is understood Environment Canterbury (ECan) has also made a submission raising flood-risk concerns.

The school building was closed in 2011 following the earthquakes. It remained closed because of concerns by some about rockfall from the cliffs.

Others disputed whether a rockfall risk existed.

The years-long saga continued last year when the Ministry of Education agreed to keep the school open, on the condition it move somewhere else.

The council agreed to swap nearby Redcliffs Park for the school site, allowing the school to be built at the park.

Regenerate Christchurch will fast-track the move. It has the power to change the District Plan to rezone the park as a school. It is asking for submissions about that process.

Council staff raised concerns about coastal hazards at the new site, part of which is in a high flood management zone where most developments would be deemed noncompliant under various local and regional plans.

Most of the school would be above the flood zone, but a section would need to be on lower-lying land. The proposed main vehicle access is in the flood zone and floods regularly.

The ministry has said it plans to build the school so it would be protected from the flood risk, but the council is urging it to make its case more strongly and consider the risks thoroughly.

‘‘Both the Regional Policy Statement and the District Plan seek to avoid new development in such areas of high flood hazard, and the proposal should address why it is being proposed in such an area,’’ its submission said.

‘‘[T]here is no discussion in the proposal of what the high flood hazard management area means in terms of risk to people and property . . . These omissions should be remedied before the proposal is finalised and more discussion included of the implications.’’

During public submissions on the land swap in June, numerous residents raised the issue of regular flooding at the reserve and the surrounding roads. Sea-level rise would exacerbate such issues.

The submission said in decades to come flooding would cause parts of the school to become unusable at times, which in some cases could pose a safety risk.

‘‘There are operational risks for the school both within the 50-year period and beyond, because the use of some or all of the outside areas of the school would be precluded during a flood event, whether rainfall or tidal,’’ the submission said.

‘‘Even if Beachville Rd [the vehicle access] is not under water in a significant flood event, some or all of the car park and playing fields are likely to be, and there may be risks for primary schoolaged children in accessing the school buildings from this direction.

‘‘In the future, the lower parts of the site will be subject to very frequent coastal flooding.’’

Councillors approved the submission yesterday.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods would need to approve the use of Regenerate Christchurch’s powers.

It would then be open to public comment, before Woods either approved or declined the proposal.

If approved, the process of rezoning the land would be completed by the middle of next year, with the school likely to be built in 2019.

‘‘The lower parts of the site will be subject to very frequent coastal flooding.’’