Way forward for Coastal Hazards

This page outlines the review process for the Coastal Hazard provision in the Kāpiti Coast Proposed District Plan 2012.

On 24 July 2014 Council chose Option 4 recommended by the Independent Review of the Proposed District Plan to continue with a modified PDP process which addresses the Plan as a whole using the "basket of tools" available to Council.

Option 4 allows withdrawal of the contentious coastal hazard provisions. Council has also chosen to accept the recommendations of the expert coastal panel which recommended further research needed to be done on coastal erosion hazards.

Council will now formally withdraw all the coastal hazard provisions of the PDP and will commit to a two-to-three year programme of scientific and engineering research.

Council decided to form a Coastal Advisory Group (CAG) comprised of statutory agencies and community representatives to guide Council's future work programme in consultation with the community.

To view the Council Officer's report to Council on 24 July 2014, go here.

Background

In 2013 Council convened an independent Coastal Experts Panel to review the science behind the coastal hazard mapping used for the Proposed District Plan. The Panel was asked to review the science relating to coastal hazard assessments after it was challenged by coastal residents.

The Coastal Experts Panel comprised the following members:

• James Carley (Chairperson), Principal Coastal Engineer, Water Research Laboratory, UNSW, Australia
• Dr Paul Komar (Deputy Chairperson), Emeritus Professor of oceanography, Oregon State University, USA
• Dr Paul Kench, Professor and Head of Department, School of Environment, University of Auckland, NZ
• Dr Robert Davies, Statistician, Statistics Research Associates Limited, Wellington, NZ.

The Panel's final report is available for download or print from the link below. Hard copies of the report are available on request.

Coastal Erosion Hazard Assessment for the Kāpiti Coast: Review of the Science and Assessments Undertaken for the Proposed Kāpiti Coast District Plan 2012 (PDF, 75 pages, 1Mb)

Comments on the Kapiti Coast Hazards Review Report by Emeritis Professor Paul D Komar on 23 June 2014 ( PDF, 2 pages, 37Kb)