Hazard lines off housing project

COASTAL hazard lines affecting a multimillion-dollar housing development on the Kapiti Coast have been moved in a revised coastal erosion report.

Kapiti Coast District Council paid coastal scientist Roger Shand for a report on the expected effect of climate change on coastal properties, which formed the basis of 50 and 100-year predicted shorelines placed on the Lims of 1800 properties.

The owners of the large Kotuku Park residential development at Paraparaumu Beach strongly opposed the 100-year lines affecting some of their plots.

The company has been subdividing its block for 10 years and has completed stage four, which includes private lakes, and says controversy over the lines has left them in limbo. It brought in a coastal science expert from Australia to meet Shand last year to discuss his hazard lines.

Council chief executive Pat Dougherty confirmed at a committee meeting it had received Shand’s reassessment of the lines affecting the development.

Kotuku Park lawyer Michael Shanahan said it received Shand’s new report this week, dated January 2014, which showed the original lines were ‘‘wrong’’ and should be moved. ‘‘It is quite clear the new lines avoid the park by a significant distance.’’

Last year, in response to controversy over the hazard lines, the council appointed an expert panel to review Shand’s original report. The panel concluded the lines were not robust enough to be included in the District Plan.

An independent review of the draft District Plan recommended the section on coastal hazards be removed.