A coastal Carterton flood resilience project is underway, with debris from Cyclone Gabrielle to be used for bund construction.
The Flat Point settlement is on the east coast of the Carterton district and has a community with about 100 properties that are regularly affected by surface water flooding during high-intensity rain events.
Flat Point was one of the worst impacted parts of the district during the 2023 North Island weather events, with silt and other materials landing churned up at the beach and surrounding area.
Carterton District Council’s Flat Point Flood Resilience Initiative involves designing and building a planted, earthen bund around the western and northern boundaries of the settlement.
The bund will redirect surface water flow away from the settlement to where it can discharge to the ocean.
The first stage of the project will establish feasibility, including investigating the materials available for reuse.
This would be the silt and other residue produced by the damage caused by the cyclones.
The initiative aims to provide resilience to the community during anticipated climate-exacerbated weather events and has received $350,000 from the Local Government Flood Resilience Co-Investment Fund.
At a recent meeting of Carterton District Council’s Policy and Projects Committee, Deputy Mayor Dale Williams asked how the initiative has been received by locals.
Chief executive Geoff Hamilton said the Flat Point community was keen to set up a committee to “look at flood management” last year.
The council haws since been successful in its application to the Local Government Flood Resilience Co-Investment Fund.
Instruction has been given to Egis Consultants to undertake a survey and bund design in order for the council to appoint a contractor as soon as possible to start construction.
Hamilton said the council will be engaging with the Flat Point community, who are “very keen to see flood management happen and some protection work”.
In some cases, some of the roads and properties at the coastal settlement are “in dips and sand dunes so that makes it even more complicated.
– NZLDR
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