Landslide risk assessment studies for the Whakatāne, Ōhope and Matatā escarpments will be considered by the Whakatāne District Council on Thursday.
Council Planning and Strategy General Manager David Bewley says the studies were undertaken as a result of a number of significant, heavy rainfall-initiated landslides on the Whakatāne and Ōhope escarpments in recent years. The assessments examine the likelihood and associated risks of landslides along the escarpments and are based both on historic incidents and geological influences on the likelihood of future events. The Matatā study also includes the risks arising from future debris flows.
“The aim of the studies is to provide the community with a better understanding of landslide hazards and the risks they represent to lives and properties where homes or businesses are located close to the base of the escarpments,” Mr Bewley explains. “The Council has to consider whether landslides represent an unacceptable level of risk to people and properties. Where that is the case, the situation must either be addressed through controls applied to future development, or by working with property owners to find ways of reducing the risk through engineering or other solutions.”
He says it’s likely that new hazard maps and District Plan rules will be incorporated in the Council’s Proposed District Plan, by way of a variation. “Any new plan provisions will be subject to a full public submission process and we will be consulting extensively with affected property owners in the three communities before any proposed variation to the District Plan is finalised.”
The Council has compiled a database of properties which could be affected by landslides and will be posting information on the study findings to all of the property owners involved within the next two days. “That will be followed-up by opportunities for face-to-face meetings with individual property owners, or neighbourhood meetings, so that people can gain a better understanding of the issues and raise any concerns,” Mr Bewley concludes.