Auckland Unitary Plan: Changes to raise natural hazard resilience

Auckland Council is progressing work on a change to the Auckland Unitary Planto increase resilience to natural hazards. This will strengthen the standards that must be met by developers when applying to build in areas that are at a high risk of flooding, land subsidence, coastal erosion and inundation.

Chair of the Planning, Environment and Parks Committee, Councillor Richard Hills, says the unique geographic features of Tāmaki Makaurau are some of the things that make it so special.

"Situated on a narrow isthmus, Aucklanders are fortunate to have over 3200km of coastline, sandy beaches and three major harbours on their doorstep. However, this distinctive topography, combined with a changing climate, also makes Auckland vulnerable to natural hazards, like floods, landslides and coastal erosion," he says.

Feedback on the Future Development Strategytold us that Aucklanders want to avoid further urban growth in areas subject to these hazards due to the risks they pose. This change to the Unitary Plan aims to achieve this, while helping to reduce the harm that natural hazards could cause to people and property in the future.

"We're seeing the impact of climate change and experiencing more frequent extreme weather events than we did a decade or two ago, let alone generations ago when much of Auckland was developed.

"Residents have rightly questioned why new developments continue to be built in areas that are at high risk of flooding. The reality is that it can be difficult for councils to prevent people from applying to build in these areas - the legal threshold to do so is extremely high.

"While the work we're doing can't completely prevent building in floodplains, it will mean those applying to build here will need to show that the impacts of natural hazards, such as floods and landslides, are alleviated to an even higher standard than our consenting processes currently apply," says Councillor Hills.

The plan change is part of a holistic package of work that willstrengthen resilience to climate changein the Auckland region. It sits alongside council initiatives like Making Space for Water, a 10-year flood mitigation programme; and the Shoreline Adaptation Programme, which plans how public land and buildings along Auckland's coastline will be managed to ease the impacts of climate change, like erosion.

The council aims to create space for more homes while keeping people safe from natural hazards

Strengthening natural hazard resilience in a growing population

Making this change to the Unitary Plan helps the council to ensure that future developments are built in the right places and in the right way for Auckland's evolving climate. However, there also needs to be space for enough homes to meet the needs of Auckland's growing population in the decades to come. The council is investigating whether this change to the Unitary Plan to increase resilience against natural hazards could in fact be delivered as part of its intensification plan change - Plan Change 78. Decisions on this will be made later in 2024.

The rules about building in areas vulnerable to natural hazards

Phill Reid, Manager Aucklandwide Planning at Auckland Council, says preventing building work from happening in areas at risk of natural hazards, like flooding, is a challenge that Auckland Council shares with many other councils across Aotearoa New Zealand.

"Changing the Unitary Plan is one action we can take to help protect our region from the impacts of climate change in the future. It will strengthen controls over what can be built where and allow better assessments to be made of resource consent applications.

"The goal is that this will reduce exposure to flooding, make buildings more resilient, and help Aucklanders to be clearer on any natural hazard risks when buying a property," says Mr Reid.

Councils must apply different laws when assessing resource and building consent applications. This includes applications to build in floodplains.  

The Building Act says that councils must grant building consent if sufficient steps are taken to protect the land or building from a natural hazard. For example, this could mean keeping rooms above flood level. The Resource Management Act sets out different natural hazard risk levels, and how they should be managed and mitigated. Resource consent must be granted if risks are mitigated appropriately.

Next steps

The council is currently working on what the proposed plan change could look like. This includes identifying the scope of the work, and the locations that will be focused on. Once it comes into effect, the plan change will apply to new applications to build in areas that are at high risk of flooding.

There will be an opportunity to have your say on the plan change further down the line.

Protect your whānau from flooding

There are things that you can do to help protect your whānau from flooding. Check the flood viewer to understand your property's flood risk. Visit the flood viewer's Be Prepared page to know what to do to reduce the risk of flooding before, during and after a storm. 

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