Your water community
We share knowledge and bring expertise together to uphold the mana of water for Aotearoa New Zealand
We share knowledge and bring expertise together to uphold the mana of water for Aotearoa New Zealand
Proposed fast-track laws could perpetuate inappropriate developments in natural hazard zones that put people and property in harm's way, insurers, local authorities and river engineers have warned.
The Insurance Council is among submitters warning that the Fast-track Approvals Bill does not currently do enough to prevent housing and infrastructure from being developed on land vulnerable to climate change risks.
A Hawke's Bay local government committee, still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle, said the bill would undermine their coastal hazard planning and allow the types of risky developments that councils are desperate to stop.
Almost 100 free water tanks have changed lives and built drought resilience for vulnerable, isolated rural communities in Northland.
The new tanks have been installed in response to the region’s 2019-20 drought, which exposed significant water poverty across Te Tai Tōkerau in vulnerable rural communities without access to public water supply. This resulted in the New Zealand Army being brought in to deliver water to communities without town water supply.