The Star: May 04, 2023

The Star Thursday May 4 2023
10
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Frequently flooded streets set
• By Tony Simons
A LIST OF the 22 streets most
hit by surface flooding has been
released – and nearly half of
them are to be up-zoned to allow
medium or high-density housing
under the new planning rules.
It comes after scientists
announced 35 per cent of
Christchurch will be inundated
by 2100.
The list of streets with the
worst history of surface flooding
was released by the city council.
It revealed most of them are near
the Avon and Heathcote rivers or
on the coast.
Nine of the streets are being
rezoned to permit higher density
developments, despite the city
council’s admission it cannot fix
the existing flooding problems.
The list recommends 13
streets be protected from higher
density building because they
are in existing coastal or river
management areas or at risk
from a tsunami.
A city council spokesperson
said under the new planning
rules, which come into force next
year, it will not be able to decline
an application for higher density
buildings on these streets if it
is a permitted activity, unless
there is insufficient capacity or
infrastructure to support it.
The street list was released
INUNDATED: Tenby Place resident Heidi Oudemans said there are days when residents
are unable to leave their properties due to the ongoing flooding in Avondale. Right –
Flooding at the intersection of Bellbrook Cres and Emmett St in Shirley.
after The Star requested it
following an April city council
meeting attended by upset
residents from Avondale’s Tenby
Place Action Group. The group
was told flooding in the area may
never be practically remedied.
And recent studies also
show flooding across most of
Christchurch will get much
worse.
Dr John Reid, a senior research
fellow at the Ngāi Tahu Centre
and expert on land, freshwater,
and ocean sustainability, said
Christchurch is on a wetland
which European settlers drained
to develop the city.
But now climate change is
causing sea levels to rise. “As
the sea level rises, so, too, the
wetlands will return,” said Reid.
“In 80 years’ time, it is
predicted that about a third of
Ōtautahi Christchurch will be
vulnerable to regular flooding.
“Low-lying areas of the city –
areas that used to be wetlands –
are most at risk.”
In another recent study,
Belinda Storey, a senior
research fellow at the New
Zealand Climate Change
Research Institute, who
coined the term “insurance
retreat”, found homes in the city
with a 1 per cent chance of being
flooded are expected to find it
difficult to get insurance by 2030.
“They will seek to transfer
the liability back to the policy
holder,” she said.
“Then when the cost of
insuring against flooding gets
too great, they may decide
PHOTO: RNZ / NIVA CHITTOCK
your house is “uninsurable”
and will withdraw insurance
altogether,” she said. Insurance
is a requirement for residential
mortgages in New Zealand and
failing to maintain insurance
can trigger default.
An insurer can exit a
policy at the next renewal date,
whereas a borrower may still
have decades before their loans
are paid off.
A city council staff report has
confirmed it is not possible to
“fix flooding” and some level of
flood risk will always be present
in parts of Christchurch, even
if investment was significantly
increased.
“For example, the Flockton
St area still has street flooding
in larger events, even with $52
million council investment,” said
acting head of three waters Brent
Smith.
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