New flood barriers are expected to make it easier and faster to respond to weather events across the Selwyn district.

The Selwyn District Council’s emergency management team has purchased water-filled flood barriers that are 14.5m long and can be connected to protect larger areas. They take six to 10 minutes to fill.

Selwyn civil defence controller Al Lawn said the barriers were a modern alternative to sandbags.

“They can be filled from fire hydrants, tankers or other water sources via a pump and hose. After deployment, they can then be emptied and packed away for the next event,” he said.

“Sandbags take a lot of time and resources to fill up, and after the floods they are often contaminated with sewage, so you can’t just empty them in a paddock.”

The council has also been developing computer modelling to help predict where flooding may occur and where to deploy the barriers, Lawn said.

Ten barriers will be placed around the district.

“They are not the ultimate silver bullet, but part of an ongoing strategy to mitigate the risk of flooding across the district.”