A Community's Acceptance of Risk and Flood Management

Investigations have shown that the Lower Motueka River stop banks, originally constructed in the 1950’s, would be unlikely to survive severe flooding completely intact. The Tasman District Council identified that a complete stop bank replacement would cost approximately $20 million, and considered that the cost would need to be borne by the Motueka community.

The Motueka community has told the Council that this is not an acceptable option.

This paper will outline how a paradigm shift (for both Council and community) represents a leading approach to flood and river management for a local authority. Solutions are being developed from the community up, rather than just presented as worked-up options from Council, as would normally be the case.