Last week, Land Drainage Recovery Programme staff held two community meetings where we presented five options for reducing flood risk along the Heathcote River.

The meetings were really well attended, with approximately 180 residents over the two sessions.

The five options include:

• Dredging
• Bank stabilisation
• Low stopbanks
• Storage basins
• And the Council’s Flood Intervention Policy, which offers assistance to properties that are at risk of flooding, where the flood risk has been worsened by the earthquakes.

We will consult with the community on the bank stabilisation option early next month. We will be back in touch next week to let you know how you can have your say on this.

Staff will seek approval from the Infrastructure Transport and Environment Committee and Council in November for those options not currently approved, and funding will be sought through the Long Term Plan.

The meetings were run in a workshop style, with separate areas for each of the five options. Land Drainage team members with specialist knowledge on each option led the discussions at each of these areas.

Feedback from the community about the format of the meetings was really positive, and people said they appreciated the opportunity to talk about options that were of particular interest to them in a smaller group environment.

More information on the options can be found at the Heathcote River flood mitigation webpage.