The Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council yesterday announced they were teaming up to begin consulting more than 150 community groups about the impact of climate change in South Dunedin.
The suburb — home to 10,000 residents and, since 2016, a New Zealand climate change hot-spot — has at least 2700 homes within half a metre of the spring high tide mark, making them vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise.
DCC city services general manager Sandy Graham said the aim of the consultation drive was to meet with all community, sports, religious and social groups active in South Dunedin over this year.
It was expected to be one of the bigger consultation exercises by the council in recent years.
The initiative was part of the wider South Dunedin Future project, which aimed to involve the community in future decisions about ‘‘how best to respond and adapt to climate change’’, she said.
‘‘Rather than planning its own meetings, the DCC has asked if it can talk to groups at one of their meetings about the long-term challenges and opportunities over the next century and beyond.
‘‘There’s no fixed agenda or options for these discussions. We want to build awareness of the issues and develop good relationships, so the community is part of the decision making every step of the way,’’ she said.
The consultation would feed into long-term planning work for South Dunedin over several years.
ORC operations general manager Gavin Palmer said it the consultation would also include presentingtechnical information about South Dunedin and work under way in the area.
‘‘It’s essential that we share what we know in order to help make informed decisions with the community,’’ Dr Palmer said.
The area was increasingly at risk from a combination of low-lying land, high groundwater levels and climate change, which was making the area more prone to flooding.
‘‘The most immediate risk and potential impact is from major rain events that can produce more water than the existing systems can cope with.’’
Those impacts were expected to increase in the longer-term.
DCC infrastructure services general manager Simon Drew said the council was already ramping up efforts to improve infrastructure, and its own emergency response, to prepare the city for future events.
Over the next decade, that would include spending a further $86million on projects planned to reduce South Dunedin’s flood risk, he said.
In the longer term, more ‘‘creative’’ responses would be needed, but for now ‘‘all options for South Dunedin remain on the table’’, Mr Drew said.
