Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced yesterday the government would invest in a $1.2 billion fund over the next three years to "invest in new and existing infrastructure across regional New Zealand, focusing on resilience and enabling infrastructure".
In the Otago region, this includes the continuation of the West Taieri contour channel upgrade, and in Southland the Aparima catchment flood protection scheme upgrade, the Ōreti River catchment flood protection upgrade and the Te Anau Basin catchment flood management project.
"These projects have been identified by local authorities in the Before the Deluge report, and are within scope of the Regional Infrastructure Fund’s criteria.
"Extreme weather events such as Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle last year highlighted the critical need for this infrastructure," he said.
"Stopbanks are often the only thing standing between a deluge and economic devastation for a region. While we see councils as responsible for flood protection, this fund will provide valuable one-off support to address critical gaps across the country."
Mr Jones said the regional fund would primarily support projects with funding requests ranging from $1m to $5m, while remaining flexible to consider larger projects that align with regional and national priorities.
"We are dedicating an initial $200m for flood resilience infrastructure.
"Of this, up to $101.1m is committed, along with co-investment from recipients to 42 flood-resilience projects that are close to getting started."
