Coastal Hazards Adaptation Planning Programme

Kia ora

Welcome to the first newsletter on our Coastal Hazards Adaptation Planning Programme.

Thanks very much for your interest in the programme, and to those of you who attended one of our information sessions in late November / early December.

Through this programme, we’re wanting to work with communities to start planning now for how we will manage coastal hazard risks over the next 100 years. We’re focusing on low lying coastal and inland communities in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula that are likely to be impacted by sea level rise through coastal erosion, flooding, and rising groundwater.

What is adaptation planning? 

We’re following the Ministry for the Environment’s Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance for Local Government which sets out a ten-step process for how we can adapt to the actual and expected changes from climate change.

It’s a process that puts community engagement at the centre of decision-making. It takes into consideration everything from our natural and ‘built’ environment to our cultural values, with community aspirations and expectations at the centre of the process. It also gives us a way to progress things and make decisions, even when there is uncertainty about the rate and effects of climate change.

At the end of this process, we’ll have community-led adaptation plans for these coastal and low-lying communities that provide us with ways to manage the risk of sea-level rise for at least the next 100 years. These plans will identify pathways for how different communities could adapt. The pathways will have options and triggers (the local signals and observations that coastal hazards are starting to have an impact) for when these pre-agreed options will need to be implemented.

What areas will be affected by coastal hazards? 

We’ve divided up Christchurch and Banks Peninsula into seven ‘Adaption Areas’ -  large sections of the coast and low lying inland areas that are likely to be affected by coastal hazards. Adaptation Areas have similar coastal processes and/or dependences such as infrastructure, access, community services and land use. This means any decisions made in one part of an Adaptation Area will need to consider implications for the whole area.

Across these Adaptation Areas we have identified 23 ‘Priority Communities’ which are at higher risk from coastal hazards, and five ‘Access Dependent’ communities that aren’t Priority Communities themselves, but are linked to priority communities through a reliance on shared transport routes.

Here’s a link to a map that shows areas at risk from coastal hazards in the next 100 years, and the grouping and prioritisation of communities at risk.

We’re starting our programme with communities in the Whakaraupō / Lyttelton Mt Herbert area – Charteris Bay, Teddington, Allandale and Governors Bay.

We held an information session in Allendale for local residents at the end of November – thank you again to everyone who came along. While it is still very early days for the programme, it was really valuable to hear your comments. The knowledge you shared about the impacts you’re already seeing on the shoreline and local roads, along with your questions, will help us shape the next steps in this process.

Programme phasing and timing - what's happening and by when

This programme is divided into three phases. We’re currently in Phase 1. This phase is already well underway and is focused on setting things up, such as the Coastal Hazards Working Group, and getting the information we need, such as commissioning an updated Coastal Hazards Assessment, appointing adaptation experts Royal Haskoning DHV to provide advice, and developing our processes.  We estimate this phase will take at least year and we are already about nine months in.

Phase 2 is when we start the city-wide conversations. It’s important we have a city-wide conversation about what kinds of options are on the table, the process for shortlisting them, and how things might be funded.

It’s also important that children and young people are involved in this conversation. Climate change is an inter-generational issue and future generations will be living with the impacts of decisions made now. We expect this phase will take at least six months, starting mid- 2021.

In Phase 3 we start adaptation planning with specific communities. Because the timing and severity of sea-level rise impacts will vary across the district, there is time for adaptation planning to occur in tranches. This also better recognises the diversity of communities and the different approaches that may best suit each community.  As mentioned, we’re proposing to start adaptation planning with some of the communities in the Whakaraupō / Lyttelton Mt Herbert area. We’ve estimated this phase will take at least 1.5 years to do properly and we’ll be starting it towards the end of 2021.

Climate change programme in schools

South New Brighton School's Climate Club, talking with Minister Poto Williams 

We’ve been working with local schools to ensure children’s voices are heard in the adaptation planning conversation. This is important, not only because decisions made today will have longer term effects on them, but also because children have rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to have a say on matters that interest and affect them.

Sian Carvell, a registered teacher and children’s engagement specialist, is delivering the curriculum-based learning programme ‘Climate Change – Prepare Well, Live Well Tomorrow’ to a number of schools in low-lying coastal and inland communities across Ōtautahi Christchurch. The programme is supported by the Ministry of Education and aims to build awareness of climate change science and how we and other parts of the world, are responding to the challenges of climate change. It focuses on what they, as children, can do to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. To ensure a local connection, we’ve added an in-depth focus on how our communities can positively adapt to sea level rise.

Schools involved in 2020 include Diamond Harbour, Governors Bay, Okains Bay, South New Brighton Redcliff’s, and St James, Aranui.  We’ve been blown away by the developing inquires and actions the Years 6, 7 and 8 students have planned and shared.

Several schools have established Climate Clubs to focus on how they can lead awareness raising and responses to climate change issues in their own communities.  Students have written to and met with local and central government politicians seeking answers to their questions and asking for stronger climate change action.  Others have undertaken a range of inquiry actions including creating short films about their community’s response to climate change, holding climate change expos, undertaking surveys, and developing resources to raise awareness of the issues.

Some incredibly talented students have also written and composed songs and we wanted to share one with you – it’s pretty special. 'Damn it - we broke the world' by a group of Year 7-8 pupils at Diamond Harbour School.

If your school is interested in participating, please get in touch.

Pupils from Governors' Bay School at their Climate Change Expo

More information 

For more information on the coastal hazards adaptation programme visit our website.

We received a number of questions from people who attended the Information Sessions held over the last few weeks and we plan to include these in an FAQ section on our website in the New Year. If you have further questions, please get in touch with us at engagement@ccc.govt.nz.

Want us to come talk to your community group about adaptation planning?

We are available to come and meet with groups like residents associations or other community groups to talk more about this programme of work.  Get in touch if you are interested.