November 27, 2024 • 3 mins
A plan to relocate the flood-prone West Coast town of Westport is being considered.
Westport has been repeatedly inundated by flooding - with disasters escalating further in recent years.
Buller mayor Jamie Cleine says this will be a gradual process, and other ideas to keep the town safe have been considered.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heller duper Cela. Now this next story may sound at
first like I'm making it up, but I promise you
I'm not. An urban design company has come up with
a plan to protect Westport from flooding by actually moving
the whole town up a hill. The idea is to
get some land corp land on some high ground off
the government, then build a new Westport there and gradually
move everyone in the old Westport to the new location.
The plan was presented to the Buller District Council yesterday.
(00:22):
Jamie Klin is the mayor of Buller and he's with us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Now, Hey Jamie, goody, good evening, Heather, how are you well?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Thank you to quote Queen Jamie. Is this real life
or is this just fantasy?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Look? It is real life. But I think the keyword
there is gradually. So initially this is about a option
and a plan for growth for Westport, but off the
back of growth and having a plan, and having a
master plan in particular creates effectively an insurance policy for
Westport for the twenty fifty one hundred years in the future, So.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
You could basically continue to run the town where it
is and build the wall that you are to protect
it from the Buller River. But as you develop, this
is the only land that you now develop, its land
that's on higher ground. Would that be fair?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Look not the only land we develop. I mean there's
mitigations and things that can be done in the hazard
zone as well, but certainly obviously long term there's a
hazard stack that exists over Westport. Building some flood protection
is a key element of that to buy us some
time and protect what's here now. But part of a
key part of master planning is not only where future
resport goes, but also how you manage and ensure that
(01:28):
what we've got here now is able to prosper and
do well as well. So it's important that we consider
both sides of the river.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
If you like Jamie, how how do you avoid though,
people staying in the old Westport Because presumably what you
want to do is you want to, you know, through attrition,
basically get people to buy all in the new development
as they set like. So for example, let's say you're
living in the old Westport, you sell your house when
you move, you'd like them to move up the hill
into the new Westport. How do you prevent them from
not just buying another house in the old Westport and
(01:55):
staying put.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So you're not going to prevent anyone nothing. There's nothing
compulsory about any of this. This is about a long
term vision around where people have options to build in
less hazard prone land in the future. So so that
you know, the trick and the key is to is
to manage the hazards that exists for old town if
you like, but you know, but also planning for what's
(02:18):
the potential for for a long term future.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
But most likely outcome Jamie that you're just going to
end up with a big Westport where people are still
living in the dodgy pat and some people are still
living in the good part.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
But pretty nice to be about to give people some
options and hope and choice. So I guess if if
you if you know there's another significant event you know,
of course we're not just talking flooding here. We're talking about,
you know, multiple hazards. There's obviously a fate and other
risks that are on the on the plane here a
fate earthquake Alpine Fall eight earthquake, which is obviously concerning
large parts of the South Island as well. So there's
(02:50):
you know, there's the point is that it's not just
flooding we're worried about. It's it's other things and long
term there's some great land we're very fortunate to have
proximity to Less has a prone land that we can
explore over the coming generations.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
But does this mean that we've just paid a bunch
of people five hundred thousand to tell us that the
next part of town that we developed should be Upper Hill,
which is just obvious.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
No. So, I mean there's a lot more to it
than that. I mean there's one element, clearly, elevation is helpful,
but no, this is this is about being a community
driven plan. So certainly very clever people from ISTHMUS have
have have got the plan to where it is now.
The next phase is that community engagement and understand whether
or not you know that we've got that right if
(03:34):
you like, test that with the community and ultimately land
a final plan that then we champion is then how
do we gradually make that possible over the coming decades.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Jamie, thanks for talking us through to appreciate it. That's
Jammie Kline the buller Maire. For more from Heather Duplessy,
Allen Drive, listen live to News Talks. It'd be from
four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Heller duper Cela. Now this next story may sound at
first like I'm making it up, but I promise you
I'm not. An urban design company has come up with
a plan to protect Westport from flooding by actually moving
the whole town up a hill. The idea is to
get some land corp land on some high ground off
the government, then build a new Westport there and gradually
move everyone in the old Westport to the new location.
The plan was presented to the Buller District Council yesterday.
(00:22):
Jamie Klin is the mayor of Buller and he's with us.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Now, Hey Jamie, goody, good evening, Heather, how are you well?
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Thank you to quote Queen Jamie. Is this real life
or is this just fantasy?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Look? It is real life. But I think the keyword
there is gradually. So initially this is about a option
and a plan for growth for Westport, but off the
back of growth and having a plan, and having a
master plan in particular creates effectively an insurance policy for
Westport for the twenty fifty one hundred years in the future, So.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
You could basically continue to run the town where it
is and build the wall that you are to protect
it from the Buller River. But as you develop, this
is the only land that you now develop, its land
that's on higher ground. Would that be fair?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Look not the only land we develop. I mean there's
mitigations and things that can be done in the hazard
zone as well, but certainly obviously long term there's a
hazard stack that exists over Westport. Building some flood protection
is a key element of that to buy us some
time and protect what's here now. But part of a
key part of master planning is not only where future
resport goes, but also how you manage and ensure that
(01:28):
what we've got here now is able to prosper and
do well as well. So it's important that we consider
both sides of the river.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
If you like Jamie, how how do you avoid though,
people staying in the old Westport Because presumably what you
want to do is you want to, you know, through attrition,
basically get people to buy all in the new development
as they set like. So for example, let's say you're
living in the old Westport, you sell your house when
you move, you'd like them to move up the hill
into the new Westport. How do you prevent them from
not just buying another house in the old Westport and
(01:55):
staying put.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
So you're not going to prevent anyone nothing. There's nothing
compulsory about any of this. This is about a long
term vision around where people have options to build in
less hazard prone land in the future. So so that
you know, the trick and the key is to is
to manage the hazards that exists for old town if
you like, but you know, but also planning for what's
(02:18):
the potential for for a long term future.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
But most likely outcome Jamie that you're just going to
end up with a big Westport where people are still
living in the dodgy pat and some people are still
living in the good part.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
But pretty nice to be about to give people some
options and hope and choice. So I guess if if
you if you know there's another significant event you know,
of course we're not just talking flooding here. We're talking about,
you know, multiple hazards. There's obviously a fate and other
risks that are on the on the plane here a
fate earthquake Alpine Fall eight earthquake, which is obviously concerning
large parts of the South Island as well. So there's
(02:50):
you know, there's the point is that it's not just
flooding we're worried about. It's it's other things and long
term there's some great land we're very fortunate to have
proximity to Less has a prone land that we can
explore over the coming generations.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
But does this mean that we've just paid a bunch
of people five hundred thousand to tell us that the
next part of town that we developed should be Upper Hill,
which is just obvious.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
No. So, I mean there's a lot more to it
than that. I mean there's one element, clearly, elevation is helpful,
but no, this is this is about being a community
driven plan. So certainly very clever people from ISTHMUS have
have have got the plan to where it is now.
The next phase is that community engagement and understand whether
or not you know that we've got that right if
(03:34):
you like, test that with the community and ultimately land
a final plan that then we champion is then how
do we gradually make that possible over the coming decades.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Jamie, thanks for talking us through to appreciate it. That's
Jammie Kline the buller Maire. For more from Heather Duplessy,
Allen Drive, listen live to News Talks. It'd be from
four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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