[ad_1]
Kapiti Coast residents protested outside a council meeting on Thursday.
photo: RNZ/Kate Green
Kapiti Coast residents are asking their local council to reject a report on how to protect hundreds of homes from rising sea levels.
They have been arguing with the Kapiti Coast District Council for more than a decade over which route to take The most dangerous regions in the next century.
A panel led by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger held more than 20 community meetings in the area to try to resolve the issue.
The council first tried to include erosion warnings in its land information memorandum in 2012 but was twice taken to court by residents who said the science was based on extreme estimates of sea level rise and coastal erosion that were unlikely to come to fruition.
The court initially sided with the committee, but a year later an independent panel found the information lacked scientific merit and it was removed.
In 2021, the commission reopened the issue and announced a project to map the region and the hazards it faces in the future due to climate change.
Passing vehicles honked their horns in support as protesters protested outside parliamentary offices on Thursday before heading to a meeting at parliament to formally receive the report.
The report itself is the result of more than a year of work by the group (known as the Coastal Advisory Panel, or CAP), and sets out a range of options for the region’s future, from engineering solutions to full evacuations, which would see people forced from their homes.
The first thing that comes to the minds of opponents is Insurance.
Views overlooking Raumati and Paraparaumu and Kāpiti Island.
photo: 123 RF
Tanya Lees from Kāpiti CALM (Calm Alert Legal Madness) said people were concerned insurers would use the report as an excuse to deny insurance to their homes.
“If the insurance company pulls out, it means people can no longer pay their mortgages and the banks need insured properties.”
Many still question the science behind the mapping.
“A lot of people, a lot of experts disagree with that,” she said.
“It seems like it was carefully selected information, perhaps to follow a certain narrative.”
The commission said it received almost 4000 responses through meetings held in person and online, and drew on input from a range of technical experts, evidence and mana whenua knowledge.
After the meeting in Raumati, Residents express concern about Bolger’s alleged aggressive and bullying tacticsThe council sent a letter to the resident saying it had spoken to him and reminded him he had to remain impartial.
Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger hosted a series of community meetings on the issue.
photo: RNZ/Rebekah Parsons-King
Waikanae Beach resident Ian Harrison, who has a background in climate change economics, said there was no need to plan for the worst-case scenario.
“You don’t need to fully understand economics to know that it’s very wrong to suggest an orderly withdrawal this century.”
Harrison wrote his own report and is discussing his findings with council officials, as well as his analysis of the council’s latest technical report.
Salima Padamsey, a member of the Coastal Ratepayers United, said the panel’s report should be considered as recommendations and nothing more.
“The council has never given the advisory committee any statutory powers under the Resource Management Act.
“It is not the committee’s remit to provide expert perspectives on policy issues.”
Following public submissions, Councillors and Council staff took pains to clarify that receipt of the report did not mean that Council endorsed it or regarded its conclusions as fact.
Officials said they planned to share the findings with the Insurance Commission but said they would seek clarification on whether the findings would be used to inform insurance prices. The Insurance Commission will also make clear that the findings should not be viewed as an endorsement.
With the report officially received, it marks the end of the project – but Raumati Community Council chair Bede Laracy says it’s actually another beginning.
“People in our community have fought hard over this issue,” he said.
“We need to do more of this, not less. I think the biggest takeaway from this process for the commission is how to better implement democracy.”
Jason Holland, the district’s planning manager, told the meeting that it was understandable that tensions were rising.
“The higher the stakes, the more nervous everyone gets,” he said.
“If you think your home, which for most people is their largest asset, is at risk or is losing value … I know the risk is very high.”
The committee will consider the report and examine whether and to what extent it should inform future regional planning decisions.
[ad_2]
Source link
