Community climate adaptation accelerated by council

A plan to prepare Far North communities for the impacts of a changing climate – and to respond to them – was approved by the council at its meeting on Thursday 28 August, which opted for an accelerated version of the programme.

The council approved Option B when passing Te Hōtaka Urutau Hapori – Community Adaptation Programme, which directed staff to change the programme to include an accelerated workstream for community adaptation planning to be delivered in two stages by 2030. The report tabled to the meeting had recommended Option A, which specified delivery of community adaptation planning by 2035.

The community adaptation programme represents a milestone in building climate resilience for Te Hiku o te Ika, and has been developed to work alongside tangata whenua, local communities and infrastructure providers.

It sets out three pou (pillars) of the council’s adaptation work. They are:

• Pou 1: Community adaptation planning – collaborative, place-based plans to tackle serious climate risks from hazards like coastal erosion, and coastal and river flooding
• Pou 2: Tangata whenua-led adaptation planning – supporting Māori-led, mātauranga-based climate responses
• Pou 3: Community adaptation toolkits – practical resources to kickstart adaptation planning in all corners of the Far North.

Pou 1 Stage 1 – 2024 to 2027

Far North communities included in Pou 1 are grouped into two stages based on their exposure to coastal hazards and flooding risks to Māori cultural assets, risks to transport and lifelines and social vulnerability.

The council is about to start Stage 1 Community Adaptation Planning across Hokianga, Whangapē, Herekino and Waipoua areas. The stages and their timeframes are outlined below.

What changes do we face?

The Far North is already affected by a changing climate. Planning is essential because of the uncertainty of where these impacts might be felt and their severity. Natural hazards in the Far North include coastal erosion, flooding, drought, wildfire, and land instability.

Over the next 100 years, it’s projected that climate impacts like sea level rise and future increase rainfall in the Far North could result in:

• 110km of roads underwater at the highest tides of the year
• 27 marae and 780 homes at risk from flooding or coastal erosion
• 1200 buildings on Māori land exposed to hazards.

The council’s climate obligations

The council has obligations for climate adaptation under resource management, civil defence and emergency management and local government legislation.

These obligations include:

• Providing information on natural hazards and risks
• Reducing risk from natural hazards and climate-related emergency events
• Working with communities to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergency events.

You can read Te Hōtaka Urutau Hapori - Community Adaptation Programme here.

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Below - a range of natural hazards identified in the Far North.