“Earthquake legacy issues have been an ongoing concern for Southshore and South New Brighton residents,” said council head of planning and strategic transport David Griffiths.
“Residents have made it clear to us that, before they are willing to have a conversation about how their area could respond to sea level rise in the future, they want these issues resolved.”
“This report aims to address some of those concerns by providing recommendations for how we can reduce the risk of erosion and flooding along the estuary edge.”
Council staff propose to replace or cover structures along the estuary edge in Southshore to reduce the erosion risk. This approach has community support, and would also significantly improve the appearance of the estuary edge.
To reduce the risk of flooding in Southshore, council staff recommend the construction of an 11.4 RL bund close to the current Land Information New Zealand bund.
In South New Brighton, staff propose to restore the estuary edge with a cobble beach.
To reduce the flooding risk, staff recommend a new bund set up to 100m from the estuary edge within South New Brighton Park, between the jetty near Beatty St and the southern end of the campground in Halsey St.
These options are in response to several Council resolutions from August last year regarding earthquake legacy issues.
The council has already made improvements to the northern part of the estuary walkway and construction is complete on the southern section of a bund in South New Brighton, between Bridge St and South New Brighton School. Work on the northern section of the bund will be completed in 2021 following the bird-nesting season.
Minor issues have been addressed following an assessment of the stopbank between Pages Rd and Bridge St. Overall, the assessment showed the stopbank meets current standards. Engineering consultancy GHD is now undertaking an updated life-safety risk assessment of the stopbank and this will be a separate report to council once the investigation is complete.
The proposed options to address erosion and flooding risk are forecast to cost about $12.5m. The draft 2021-31 Long Term Plan allows for $10.5m.
Find out more about the earthquake legacy issues project here.
