Our coastal planning

We were one of the first councils in New Zealand to recognise the need to plan for the impacts of sea-level rise. In 2009 we commissioned a comprehensive assessment of hazards for our district. Aspects of the technical information were challenged by property owners worried it would reduce the value of their properties. As a result, some of the technical information was withdrawn, so coastal hazards aren’t fully covered in our District Plan. This means Council can’t stop people building homes in areas that could be at risk of coastal hazards.

In 2019 the Council reset to put the community at the heart of working out how we should adapt to sea-level rise. This is the Takutai Kāpiti coastal adaptation project: www.takutaikapiti.nz.

We envisage coastal hazard provisions will be included in a future District Plan, but not until the Takutai Kāpiti community project and independent Coastal Advisory Panel completes its work, and more consultation occurs.