Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter is leading the group of councils seeking co-investment from the government, and says they've made their case. Photo: Greater Wellington
Councils - almost unanimously calling for the government to help invest in flood protection - are frustrated the government has sent them back to the bureaucrats for more conversation.
They say a $200 million investment now would save lives and billions of dollars - and not doing so will leave communities across New Zealand vulnerable to storms like Cyclone Gabrielle.
The chairs of 10 of the 11 regional councils and four of the six unitary bodies - backed by a further 29 mayors of local authorities - have reworked proposal that went to the previous government last year, calling for co-investment.
The councils inherited an ageing network of flood protection works from the government in the 1980s.
They say it must be updated to handle increasingly frequent damaging storms, but residents already facing double-digit rates rises will not be able to afford it in the short term.
To'osavili Nigel Bickle is chief executive of Hastings District Council as well as Hawke's Bay's largest real estate company - and he's seen first-hand the effects of failing to take flood risk seriously.
He told an Insurance Council conference last week New Zealand needed a nationwide approach to funding protections against flooding, as recommended by the Future for Local Government review, and the expert working group on climate adaptation.
"In our community, eight people lost their lives, we lost 25 percent of our productive economy, billions of dollars worth of road and three water infrastructures - and ultimately 163 homeowners were put into a category that says 'you shouldn't really live in your home anymore," he said.
The councils are urging the government to commit to Budget funding for their updated 77-page proposal. It would see the government put about $200m towards updating 80 stopbanks, pumping works, and river level monitoring systems - with the remaining 40 percent funded by the councils themselves.
Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor says they know the projects can work.
Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor Photo: Marlborough District Council
"We were really lucky that we got funding to build three large rock groynes, these are essentially large breakwaters out into the Wairau River. The first one was finished just a matter of weeks before our 2021 flood, and we know that it actually saved part of our stopbank network, and therefore it saved parts of the town of Renwick, and Blenheim.
"The second two groynes were finished just ahead of our 2022 flood - I don't know if we have good luck or bad luck - and those groynes also protected the stopbank."
The district council covers more than 10,000 square kilometres, but has a ratepayer base of less than 25,000 homes - and Taylor says they cannot afford the upgrades themselves in the short term.
Government funding could get all 80 projects done in the next three years, but Taylor says if it does not come to the table the ones in her region could take 10 to 20 years, leaving residents vulnerable.
"This has got to be first cab off the rank for the new Budget," she told RNZ.
"We're leaving communities very vulnerable. We're leaving significant Crown assets, we're leaving state highways - in the case of Marlborough - very vulnerable. And we know that it's so much harder to help a community recover after a flood, it's so much more expensive to put back what is broken.
"It's so much more sensible to protect it in the first instance and the quicker we can do that, the more assurance we have as a community and as an economy that we can just look forward and not be worried about looking over our shoulder and watching the storm clouds gathering."
The National Party in September promised to speed up cyclone recovery with a fast and fair process, including setting up an ombudsman for it.
The mayors have put their case to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones.
Willis responded in February with a letter, which RNZ has seen a copy of.
She said the government was focused on its 100-day plan commitment to meet with councils about their requirements for recovering from last year's cyclone and floods.
"The government is still considering and making decisions on Budget 2024 strategy and design. I encourage you to continue to engage with the Department of Internal Affairs on this work.
"My thanks to you and those involved in bringing this to my attention. I do recognise this is an important issue and we are committed to improving the lives of all New Zealanders."
The response left Greater Wellington Regional Council chair Daran Ponter, who is leading the proposal and sent it to Willis in November, frustrated.
"I'm not particularly excited about that, we've been there before. We feel that we've made our case. We need government departments to step up and do their job.
"We're disappointed that the response has not been clearer and more decisive ... we feel like we're back to where we were a year ago."
While the councils would fund the works eventually, he said waiting would put billions of dollars of property - not to mention lives, livelihoods and productive land - at risk.
"There's a real possibility that with a Cyclone Gabrielle-type event ... anywhere in the country, the government could be up for billions of dollars.
"At that point the government of course will come in with their emergency provisions, with orders in council, with a bunch of money, etcetera, to assist with the cleanup and rehabilitation of local communities. It won't be for regional councils to say 'I told you so' but there will be an element of 'guys, we could have done this, we could have avoided this set of circumstances altogether'.
"Councils are struggling. We have many rates increases now that will be double digits. Some will be beyond 20 percent in a few instances around the country.
"I respect that the Minister of Finance has many things on her plate at the moment, but we are expectant."
RNZ sent multiple requests for interviews to Ministers Willis and Brown over the past week, particularly given the 100-day plan has now expired, but they declined.
Brown's office responded to questions with a written statement said local governments had the primary responsibility for flood risk management, and "I expect councils to be engaging and working with the owners of private and public infrastructure to provide appropriate levels of flood protection".
It remains to be seen whether the government - elected on promises of cutting bureaucratic waste and getting things done - will do more than encouraging further engagement with its departments.
