The Christchurch City Council has released a new report on the coastal hazards across Christchurch and Banks Peninsula – providing insurance, banking and real estate industry bodies with information to help them better understand the nature and extent of coastal hazards.
The council said having good, clear information allows insurers, banks and the market to respond appropriately to the actual risk.
Christchurch City Council head of strategic policy Helen Beaumont said a peer-review panel made a recommendation to improve the 2015 coastal hazards report. The new report addresses all recommendations and includes the findings of further investigations, she said.
“It will be a starting point for a conversation with our community about how we are going to adapt to the realities of climate change, particularly sea-level rise and increased storminess,” Beaumont said. “It will also help inform any future changes to the coastal hazard provisions in the Christchurch District Plan.”
Climate change is expected to accelerate sea level rise, and the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement requires Christchurch City Council to consider coastal hazards over the long term – at least 100 years.
The 2017 report covers the key inhabited coastal areas within the Council’s boundaries and investigates the potential for erosion and inundation (flooding by the sea) over a 50-year and a 100-year timeframe for four climate scenarios.
The report classifies the areas into two coastal environments:
- The open coast, which stretches 16km from Waimairi Beach to Southshore, including the Sumner and Taylors Mistake; and
- The harbour coast, which takes in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary, Brooklands Lagoon and the Banks Peninsula harbours.
The report shows the harbour coast is more at risk of inundation than the open coast, which is generally protected by sand dunes.
The report was prepared by environmental and engineering consultancy Tonkin & Taylor Limited. It will be formally presented to the council at its meeting on Nov. 9.
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