Christchurch, 25 July 2016

Empowered Christchurch Inc.

Notification to Council and the West Melton Water Management Zone Committee

Dear Mayor and Councillors

Dear members of the West Melton Water Management Zone Committee

We refer to our notification of 10 May 2016 in which we originally raised the matter of the discrepancy in Council flood mapping, asked that the tidal influence be included in modelling and called for an enquiry into the errors and omissions uncovered. We have made repeated requests for flood modelling to be corrected and updated, yet map information for floor levels remains disabled for large areas of the city. We requested a legal opinion on existing use rights from Council on 6 April 2016, which is still outstanding. Since the various meetings with Council staff and the public meeting on Existing Use Rights on Tuesday, 7 June 2016, attended by Council's Head of Strategic Planning, Helen Beaumont, and Councillor David East, Empowered Christchurch has had no responses regarding the large number of issues we raised. Councillor East has informed the South Brighton Residents' Association (SBRA) that a plan is in preparation for the South Brighton area in collaboration with the Minister's office and Regenerate Christchurch. There is growing public uncertainty surrounding EQC's approach to settling land claims. Substantive responses from Council on such matters as EURs, filling in high hazard flood management areas and proposed solutions for high groundwater and erosion would have been helpful for the upcoming EQC community meeting on increased liquefaction vulnerability (ILV) on Wednesday, 27 July 2016. In the absence of any concrete information on what solutions will be presented, the role played by QV in setting rates and determining property values, and in view of the lack of engagement on the part of the Council with community and resident groups to resolve these issues, we require clear information on what steps will be taken.

Accordingly, this is a formal notification on behalf of our members that the stop banks along the Avon River require immediate action to prevent flooding and to reduce erosion. Pursuant to the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941, in conjunction with the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, Council has a responsibility to make provision for the conservation of soil resources, the prevention of damage by erosion and to make provision for the protection of property from damage by floods. No action has been taken in the lower Avon estuary to meet these obligations. This is an area where progressive erosion is underway, where tidal, saline groundwater comes to the surface at high tide, and where many plants and trees are dying due to soil and water salinity.

Properties that have not been raised, and in particular those that have been rebuilt with floor levels more than 1.0 m below the minimum height required for a tidally influenced area (12.3 m above datum), are particularly exposed. This is a direct result of Council's actions/omissions. No-one has yet been held accountable for this error and one of the elderly owners affected has been told by a Council employee (Aaron Haymes) that her floor level of 11.27 m above datum will be adequate to provide flood protection in a 1 in 50-year event. Quite apart from how nonsensical this statement sounds in an area where groundwater is at 40 cm and less below the surface, the equity values of such houses have been drastically affected by Council failing to comply with the City Plan. What is worse is that many of the people affected are old and vulnerable, and unable to assert their rights through the courts except on a pro bono basis.

The Mayor previously stated that no compensation would be paid to these ratepayers. The Deputy Mayor then stated that the Mayor had been misreported. We call on the Mayor to make a clear and unequivocal public statement on how these people are to be compensated. The present Council was elected in 2013 and the current Mayor campaigned under the party name of "One City Together". What we have seen over the last three years is a city that is being more and more dramatically divided between east and west, between haves and have-nots, between areas that are protected and have amenities and suburbs that are being abandoned. All of Council's actions in the above matters make its stated commitment in 2013 to ensure transparency and accountability less than credible. As elected representatives of the city, you bear a joint responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of the residents of Christchurch. Actions speak louder than words and what we now urgently need is action!

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