The Urban Task Force property leadership group is expressing disappointment and frustration at the recent approval of the Tauranga City Council's Plan Change 27 - a piece of legislation which the group believes will have a damaging effect on property values across the city.

UTF Board Chairperson Scott Adams says the group has decided to appeal the court decision regarding the management of flood zones in Plan Change 27.

'Flooding is the most important natural hazard issue that our city is facing. We understand and support the intent of the work but remain strongly opposed to the Council's approach and the uncertainty the Plan Change creates,” says Adams.

Like councils around the country, Tauranga City Council has been mapping and releasing flood hazard information for many years, as required by national and regional legislation.

This programme involves periodic updates to flood maps, with each catchment area of the city being updated to take account of new land levels, building and infrastructure information.

The information on model updates is available on the Council website. When the models are updated, Council consults with any newly-affected property owners.

'Plan Change 27 seeks to reduce the risk of flooding over time, as development or redevelopment occurs, and is a key aspect of the Integrated Stormwater Project which was developed following significant flooding events in 2005 and 2013,” says Tauranga Commission Chair Anne Tolley.

'The first principle of the ISP is to reduce the safety risk to people by introducing a safety-focused level of service, as well as managing flooding through infrastructure investment and regulation (Plan Change 27).”

Anne Tolley.

Tolley says the decision on Plan Change 27 was made by an independent hearing panel of four experts in planning, urban design, tikanga Māori, infrastructure and stormwater.

'The hearings panel considered the views of all submitters on the plan change proposal, and evidence presented to them at a hearing in December 2021, before making the decision.”

The publicly available information on the Plan Change 27 can be accessed on the Tauranga City Council website here.

Adams says that UTF are particularly concerned that the Plan gives the Council the power to amend non-statutory flooding maps at any time, creating a high flood zone onto someone's property without any prior notice and potentially making their home difficult to sell or insure.

'We believe ratepayers will bear the costs of this poor decision for many years as the flood mapping is woefully inaccurate, does not factor in recent existing private sector mitigation and is likely to result in frequent challenges from the city's homeowners,” says Adams.

The Council says that non-statutory mapping simply acknowledges that Tauranga is a fast-growing city, and that changes ‘on the ground' continue as development and redevelopment occurs.

'For example, earthworks can make significant changes to landform - such as raising building platforms - which change how or where stormwater flows,” says a Tauranga City Council spokesperson.

'These changes to the landform require an update of the flood models.”

Non-statutory mapping also means that any resource consent or building consent assessments can take into account the latest available site information. For example, new site survey levels which demonstrate that flooding no longer applies can be presented as part of the consenting process.

UTF were just one of more than 1000 organisations and individuals that outlined their concerns to Council as part of a formal submission process in February 2021 and in a further submission in June last year.

'We think the court decision is very light and ignores most of the arguments put forward in submissions and does not give effect to the Regional Policy Statement because it lacks any evidence that other options for managing flooding for the city as a whole have been considered,” says Adams.

Urban Task Force board chairperson Scott Adams. Photo: Supplied.

'The decision also does not follow specific directives from the city's Commissioners.”

UTF is understood to be one of several organisations preparing an appeal to the court decision.

'The decision was publicly notified on 11 April 2022 and the appeal period closed on 25 May 2022,” says Tolley.

'Tauranga City Council has received three appeals in total. Those appeals will be heard by the Environment Court and it would not be appropriate to comment on their substance ahead of that process.

'Throughout the plan change submission and hearing process, Bay of Plenty Regional Council provided support for Plan Change 27, which gives effect to the Regional Policy Statement natural hazards chapter,” says Tolley.

'UTF want Tauranga to grow and thrive,” says Adams.

'To do that, we believe homeowners must have certainty about the future of their property and be able to trust in the decisions made by the Council planning services.

'Plan Change 27 delivers uncertainty and an atmosphere of mistrust, we want these concerns heard and will continue to press for positive change for all the residents of Tauranga.”

Residents can request a review of the flooding risk that has been identified on their property at any time by contacting council with all relevant property information and a waters engineer will review the situation.

Since the review is non-statutory, any property-specific information will be taken into account and the maps can be amended, if recommended by the review.