Climate Change Adaptation Plan Choiseul Bay Township Solomon Islands

Shannon McGuire, Principal Planner
Buckley Vann Town Planning Consultants, Brisbane, Australia
ICLEI: 2015 Resilient Cities Congress, Bonn
Climate Change Adaptation Plan,
Choiseul Bay Township,
Solomon Islands
1

Presentation outline
• Context
• Drivers for relocation
• About the Choiseul Bay
Climate Change Adaptation
Plan
• Community engagement
• Implementation
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Context
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• Taro Island very low lying
• Major coastal hazards:
• tsunami
Drivers for relocation
• coastal storms and storm tide
inundation
• shoreline erosion
• Climate change & sea level rise
impacts
• Limited land supply
• Largest centre (900 residents)
serving catchment of 26,000 people.
• Land acquired for new township site
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Drivers for relocation
• Shift in position from ‘expansion’ to
‘relocation’ .
• Limited space for refuge in 2014 from
tsunami and virtually no space by 2090
due to SLR.
• People evacuating by boat to mainland
• Community engagement revealed:
• people fearful of tsunami
• people seeing changes in ocean and loss of
land
• strong desire to relocate from Taro Is, not
just expand.
• Need action plan to manage existing
and future risks and relocation.
2014 tsunami hazard
2090 tsunami hazard
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Study area
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Choiseul Bay Township Climate Change
Adaptation Plan
A plan has been prepared that:
• shows how climate change hazards are
likely to affect Taro Island and new town
site;
• makes recommendations about how to
protect the community and important
areas from hazards & improve resilience;
• guides how and when new development
& relocation should occur in future.

Choiseul Bay Township Climate Change Adaptation Plan
Natural hazard mapping:
- defined and quantified natural hazards
- time periods: 2014, 2030, 2055 and 2090
- used SLR projections based on 5 th (IPCC)
report
Risk assessment and adaptation
options
Vision and planning scheme
Adaptation Plan including schedule of
works for relocation of capital
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Choiseul Bay Township Climate Change
Adaptation Plan
• Emergency Response Plan
• Asset and infrastructure
management
• Shoreline revegetation
• Monitoring
• Vision and Planning Scheme for
new town on mainland
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Community engagement
Community & political
ownership essential for
successful implementation
Fundamental to every stage of
climate change adaptation
planning
Engagement strategy for ‘whole
of community’
In total, the project
team spoke to over 300
community members!
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Community engagement
• Lead the community on a ‘technical
journey’
• Make complex things simple
• Draw out and validate community values
• Show how feedback was reflected in:
- Adaptation options
- Vision and planning for new town
• Highly graphical engagement materials
• English is not their first language
“The project followed the ways
of our traditions – talking with people, listening to
people and reflecting the desires of the people.”
Premier, Jackson Kiloe, Premier Choiseul Province
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Valued Land,
Assets and
Infrastructure
In total, the project team spoke to over
300 community members!
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Valued Assets at Choiseul
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Community engagement
• Community ownership important
because:
‣ risk assessment is subjective and relies on
judgement decisions to assign likelihood
and consequence levels.
‣ community engagement used to validate
and refine risk assessment outcomes
• Community engagement also ensures:
‣ local knowledge is reflected in adaptation
options
‣ options are practical, realistic and
implemented within means and financial
constraints of community
‣ options fit for purpose and acceptable to
community to optimise chances of
implementation.
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Vision for New Provincial Capital

A Strategic Plan for the New Choiseul Bay Town

Implementation
• Now reviewing town layout against topographic
survey of Lot 277.
• Project office being set up and project planner
on Taro by end of 2015.
• Priority tasks:
- Follow up community engagement
- Rainwater tanks to increase water supply
- Review program of works
- Source funds for works and studies
- Gazettal of local planning scheme
- Emergency Response Plan & refuge shelter
- Dilapidation audit of buildings and infrastructure
- Commence negotiations with customary
landowners for land and sea access
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Thank you
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Extent and likelihood of natural hazards
2030 tsunami hazard
2090 tsunami hazard
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Tsunami Hazards at 2014 Tsunami Hazards at 2090
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Site Analysis

Site Analysis

Integrating hazard and risk assessments into planning
– Planning scheme, a key statutory tool
– Shape and layout of town based on 2090 hazard
mapping
– Emergency evacuation informed planning
outcomes
– Direct where development can occur and ‘no go’
areas – avoidance option
– Identify zones and uses that respond to risk and
constraints
– Embed across all levels of scheme:
• Vision & strategic policy to relocate over time
• Detailed provisions eg: design & location requirements
for hospital, tsunami refuge shelter and interim uses
• Protecting reefs and mangroves
Honiara flood refuge centre
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What made the project successful?
• Multi-disciplinary team essential for integration of science, engineering,
planning, community engagement and local knowledge
• Community engagement strategy – key tool
• Communicated key messages of science & risk simply - relied on highly
graphical materials
• Community input, ownership and understanding – all stages
• Vision & community values – very powerful
• Good natural hazard mapping essential - define extent and likelihood
• Highly localised information was geo-referenced into GIS to inform planning
• Understand risk and consequences over time and integrate across all levels of
planning
• Focus on priority risks and stage actions & planning responses
• Adaptation actions ‘fit for purpose’
• Strongly reflects community feedback and embeds this into adaptation
actions and planning for new town.
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