Dunedin has been identified as the region’s landslip hot spot and eight parts of the city have been singled out as potentially needing higher priority in managing risks. It was common for infrastructure such as roads to be affected, but better information was needed to help shape priorities, a report for the Otago Regional Council said. The council is working on a natural hazards prioritisation programme aimed at generating a comprehensive regional-scale understanding of exposure and risk. Flooding is the focus of much of the natural hazards work, but landslips also feature. It was noted within the material a high proportion of the region’s landslip impacts were known to occur in the wider Dunedin City Council area. Since the late 1990s, about 70% of Otago Natural Hazards Commission claims for landslip damage were from Dunedin city or Brighton, a report for next week’s regional council meeting said. The impact had been repeated and widespread, such as in March 1994, June 2015, July 2017 and October 2024. Regarding Otago claims about storms or floods, about 60% of those had also been from Dunedin city or Brighton. Refinement of the regional council’s work programme on natural hazards was aimed at identifying areas potentially needing more consideration than they had been given historically. That could put them in line for funding in the council’s 2027-37 long-term plan. “This prioritisation approach and criteria are intended to assist with identification of locations where a new hazard management or adaptation work programme may be required,” the council report said. This might supplement substantial work already happening. A nine-item list of locations flagged for possible higher priority featured eight primarily for flooding or coastal inundation — Karitane, Waikouaiti, Waitati, Harwood, Long Beach (all Dunedin city); Ophir and Omakau (listed together, Central Otago); Lawrence and Pounawea (Clutha). The ninth was Dunedin city landslide hazards and eight areas were listed under that — Aramoana, Brighton, Kaikorai, Leith, Otago Peninsula, South Dunedin, West Harbour, and Ōtākou-Harington Point and Harwood (listed together). The prioritisation approach is intended to add a more robust framework for assessment of priorities. Earth Sciences New Zealand senior scientist David Barrell told the Otago Daily Times much of the Dunedin landslip work done previously was around mapping slips. An assessment was completed for the council in 2015 and updated in 2017. Geologically sensitive areas from the 2015 report were included in the Dunedin City Council’s district plan.
