John MacDonald: Why are we building in dumb places?

Stop building houses in dumb places.  

That’s the message the Insurance Council is giving the Government.  

That bit about “dumb places” isn’t me paraphrasing, by the way. They’re not my words. They’re the exact words the Insurance Council is using after the Government confirmed that changes to the Resource Management Act are one of the 43 things in its final quarterly action plan for the rest of the year.  

And when I heard that, the first dumb place I thought of was New Brighton, in Christchurch. In fact, pretty much anywhere along that eastern coastline, but especially New Brighton and South Brighton.  

Because I can’t understand for the life of me why the city council has allowed building just to keep on keeping on in those areas when it knows that up to $14 billion worth of properties in Christchurch and Banks Peninsula could be at-risk from sea-level rise.   

We learned about that figure in October last year when the council made a submission to parliament’s environment select committee, which is leading an inquiry into climate adaptation.  

So, the Christchurch council says on one hand there are truckloads of areas that could be inundated because of sea level rise —about $14 billion worth of property— but, on the other hand, says yep, you can build that new house you want to build at Southshore. Or tells developers they can build apartments at New Brighton.  

And it’s just nuts.  

You’d think we would have learned not to do this years ago after the quakes.    

Because remember all the head scratching that went on back in 2011 after the big earthquake about why the council had historically allowed building to happen in certain parts of town? Parts of town where things really went pear-shaped after the quakes.  

But it’s coastal suburbs like New Brighton, South New Brighton and Southshore where there’s been a lot of talk about inundation because of how the coastal land dropped after the earthquakes.  

It seems to have been something the Christchurch City Council has preferred to pussy-foot around over. Increasingly so, as time has gone on.  

I remember speaking to Dr Bronwyn Hayward from the University of Canterbury, who has written some of the reports that have come out from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, and I asked her if she could understand why we’re still putting houses in New Brighton and South Brighton.  

She said she couldn’t understand it at all. Especially, when you consider that the council itself knows that there’s $14 billion worth of properties at risk of being inundated.  

On top of that $14 billion, the council also reckons road and water infrastructure worth about $3.2 billion is at risk of being taken out because of sea level change.  

But, despite that, the consents department will probably dish out approval for more building in those areas today. 

I remember meeting a guy who came around to do a TradeMe pick-up a couple of years ago. He’d moved down from the North Island with his family, and they were building a new house in New Brighton. He was really excited about it and I just didn’t know what to say to him. So I said nothing.  

But what I wanted to say was: “Why the hell are you doing that? Don’t you know it’s going to be underwater at some point?”  

And we know it is, because the city council has told us. The same city council telling people it's ok to build there. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Stop building houses and dumb places. Stop building houses and
dumb places. That's the message the Insurance Council is giving
the Government. And by the way, before you, before you
think this is me powaphrasing, it's not that bit about
dumb places. Not my words. They're the exact words the
Insurance Council used yesterday after the Government confirmed that changes

(00:37):
to the Resource Management Act of one of the forty
three things in its final quarterly action plan for the
rest of the year. And when I heard that, the
first dumb place I thought of was New Brighton and
christ Church, in fact pretty much anywhere along that eastern coastline,
but especially New Brighton, South Brighton South Shore, because I

(01:01):
can't understand for the life of me why the City
Council has allowed building just to keep on keeping on
in those areas when it knows that up to fourteen
billion dollars worth of properties in Christchurch and Backs Peninsula
could be at risk from sea level rice. We learned
that figure, the fourteen billion. We learned that in October

(01:23):
last year when the Council made a submission to Parliament's
Environmental Select Committee, which is leading an inquiry into climate adaptation.
So you've got the christ Church Council saying, on one
hand there are truckloads of areas that could be inundated
because of sea level rice, about fourteen billion dollars worth
of property. But on the other hand it says, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

(01:44):
you can build that new house you want to build
a south Shore or Tels developers yeah yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, you can build those apartments at New Brighton.
You see, it's just nuts And you think, wouldn't you
that we would have learned not to do this years
ago after the quakes, because remember all the head scratching

(02:07):
that went on back in twenty eleven about why the
council had historically allowed building to happen in certain parts
of town, parts of town where things really went pear shaped. Bexley,
remember Bexley built on swamp. In fact, that whole Travis
Country area is built on swamps, and Auburns of course

(02:28):
built on swamp. But it's coastal suburbs like New Brighton,
South New Brighton South Shore where there's been a lot
to talk about inundation because of how the coastal land
dropped after the earthquakes. But it seems to have been
something the Christian City Council has preferred to pussyfoot around
over increasingly so as time has gone on. I remember

(02:48):
speaking to Dr Bromwin Hayward. Now she's from the University
of Canterbury. She was on the show Remember We Want
to Go and she has written some of the reports
have come out from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
She knows what she's on about. And I asked her
if she could understand why we're still put out houses
and places like New Brighton and South Brighton and other

(03:10):
areas just as much at risk of inundations. She said,
nut can't understand that at all, especially when you consider
that the Council itself knows that there's fourteen billion dollars
worth of properties at risk of being innundated. And on
top of that fourteen billion, the Council also reckons this
is what it said to the Parliamentary select Committee. It

(03:30):
also reckons that road and water infrastructure worth about three
point two billion there's also at risk of being taken
out because of sea level change. But despite that, oh
despite that the Consents Department. They'll probably dish out approvals
for more building in those areas today or sometime this week. Oh,
there'll be one, definitely one before Friday. And it's just

(03:52):
nuts because if you want to build at New Brighton,
for example, and you go to the council and they
give you all the consents and you get all the approvals,
and you go and build your house, and then in
twenty years time the sections innundated with water, what are
you going to do? You're going to get on the
ploid of the council. And so you told me it

(04:12):
was all right to build here, It's obviously not. So
you have to buy me out. And that's what I'd
be doing, even if I was stupid enough to pour
money into building a new house in that area or
those areas. You know. I remember meeting a guy who
came around to do a trade meat pick up a
couple of years ago, and he'd moved down from the
North Island. Was his family, and what were they doing.

(04:34):
They were building a new house in New Brighton and
he was over the moon about it. He was really
excited about it, and I just didn't know what to
say to him. So I said nothing, But what I
wanted to say was why the hell are you doing
that down Yourn. It's going to be under water at
some point, and we know it is because the city

(04:57):
council has told us, the same city council telling people
it's okay to build there. And that's why when I
heard the Insurance Council say yesterday that the government needs
to stop building in dumb places, well, we as a
country need to stop building in dumb places. That's why
I knew Brighton was one of the first places I

(05:18):
thought of.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
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