Clifton
to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy Joint Committee
Tuesday 3 September 2019
Subject: Assessment Panel
Supplementary Recommendations
Reason for Report
1. This report seeks input from the Joint Committee on proposed
responses to the supplementary recommendations made by Clifton to Tangoio
Coastal Hazards Strategy Northern and Southern Cell Assessment Panels.
Background
2. In 2018, the Northern and Southern Cell Assessment Panels delivered
their final report to the Joint Committee (full report available for download
at https://www.hbcoast.co.nz/panels/)
3. The report outlines the Panel’s process and presents their
recommended 100-year adaptive pathways for 9 priority units along the Clifton
to Tangoio coastline.
4. The report also presents a range of supplementary recommendations
that were identified during the Panel’s deliberations (refer to Sections
8.7 and 9.6 of the report). The supplementary recommendations generally relate
to shorter term actions considered important by Panel members, or detailed
matters associated with pathway implementation.
5. Following the adoption of the Panel’s report by all Partner
Councils for the purposes of commencing Stage 4 of the Strategy, developing the
implementation detail associated with the Panel’s recommended pathways
has been the key task and focus of TAG and the Joint Committee.
6. TAG are mindful however that the Panel’s supplementary
recommendations have not yet had a formal response from Council’s.
7. To progress these matters, the supplementary recommendations have
been compiled in the attached table. For each recommendation, a proposed
response has been identified by TAG. This is intended to assist with
accountability and transparency in responding to the supplementary recommendations,
so that they can be either closed or actioned as appropriate, and Panel Members
advised accordingly.
8. In some cases, reporting back through the Joint Committee is
recommended. In others, it is advised that a specific Council or Councils are contacted
to seek that the matter is considered.
9. Feedback from the Joint Committee is sought on the proposed
responses.
10. TAG will
advance the matters as outlined in the attached table (with any modifications
as may be requested by the Joint Committee) over the coming months and will
provide progress updates to future Joint Committee meetings.
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Recommendation
That the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal
Hazards Strategy Joint Committee receives and notes the “Assessment
Panel Supplementary Recommendations” report.
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Authored by:
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Simon Bendall
Project Manager
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Approved by:
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Chris
Dolley
Group Manager Asset Management
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Attachment/s
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⇩1
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Proposed
Response to Assessment Panel Supplementary Recommendations
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Clifton
to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy Joint Committee
Tuesday 3 September 2019
Subject: Project Manager's
Update
Reason
for Report
1. The Project Manager’s report is usually given as a verbal
update, to provide opportunity for questions and discussion with the Committee
on general project-related matters. In this case, a written report is
provided to update the Joint Committee on progress made in each of the 5
workstreams of Stage 4 of the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy.
Stage 4 Overview
2. As previously reported to the Joint Committee, Stage 4 of the
Strategy is being developed in 3 phases:
2.1 Phase 1: Pathway Concept Development, Testing and Planning;
2.2 Phase 2: Community Consultation and Approvals; and
2.3 Phase 3: Pathway Implementation Projects (multiple).
3. TAG are currently working on Phase 1, which seeks to refine, test
and develop to a next level of detail the recommended pathways developed by the
Northern and Southern Cell Assessment Panels.
4. TAG have established 5 interrelated workstreams to complete the work
required in Phase 1, with each workstream lead by a member of TAG:
4.1 Design;
4.2 Triggers;
4.3 Funding;
4.4 Governance; and
4.5 Regulatory.
5. Each of these workstreams will result in content and recommendations
for Joint Committee review and Partner Council consideration.
6. Once Phase 1 outcomes are accepted by Partner Councils, the significance
of this work requires that community consultation under the Local Government
Act occurs.
7. The following sections provide an update on progress made in each of
the 5 workstreams noted above.
Design Workstream Update
8. Lead by in-house expertise from the Hawke’s Bay Regional
Council, the Design Workstream has three primary outputs:
8.1. Detailed concept plans for the recommended pathway in each priority
unit and updated capital construction and maintenance costs;
8.2. A works programme detailing the order, timing and duration of the
physical works programmes that form the first step of the recommended pathways
in each priority unit; and
8.3. A high-level assessment of the recommended pathway in each priority
unit to assist the regulatory workstream to consider consenting risks.
9. Over the past 12 months, a significant body of work has been
undertaken by HBRC to produce a coastal processes model for the northern and
southern cell. This model is required to allow the development of design
details for each of the recommended responses, and for the effects of those
structures on coastal processes to be tested.
10. With the
exception of revised costings for the proposed Pandora stopbank, the Design
Workstream are on track to complete their Phase 1 work by October 2019 as
required by the Project Plan.
Triggers Workstream
Update
11. The
pathways in this Strategy have been developed based on the Dynamic Adaptive
Pathways Planning (DAPP) approach recommended by the Ministry for the
Environment’s Coastal Hazards and Climate Change Guidance for Local
Government. This means that the pathways are flexible and able to adapt
to changing circumstances; this is particularly important in the context of
highly uncertain future climate-change effects.
12. In order
for the pathways to be adaptive, signals and triggers are required. These
will provide both the early warning signals, and the ultimate trigger point
when a decision is required to action a shift to the next step in the pathway,
or potentially shift to an entirely new action if necessary. Thresholds
will also need to be defined; that is, the circumstances or effects that
communities wish to avoid; pathway actions will need to be implemented before
threshold conditions are reached.
13. The
Triggers Workstream, being led by Napier City Council, will develop signals,
triggers and thresholds for each priority unit of the coast.
14. One of
the challenges for this workstream is that signals and triggers have not been
developed for coastal hazards pathways anywhere else in New Zealand; there is
no defined process for doing this or other examples to learn from.
15. Usefully,
in October 2019 TAG are expecting the release of a report from the Deep South
National Science Challenge, which presents learnings from a series of workshops
held (including with TAG and the Northern and Southern Cell Assessment Panels)
on signal and trigger development. While it won’t be a how-to
guide, TAG understand that it will provide useful reference material and outline
matters that will need to be considered in the trigger development process.
16. TAG have
also contacted the Living at the Edge research team. While research
funding is limited, there has been an initial agreement to work together in the
early phase of process design and the sharing of information and material.
17. TAG
envisions that once the trigger development process has been designed,
collaborative workshops with Assessment Panel and community members will be
held, likely in late 2019 or early 2020. This is a work in progress.
Funding Workstream
Update
18. The
Funding Workstream is tasked with:
18.1. Developing
a funding model to support the implementation of the Strategy, including the
detail of a proposed contributory fund; and
18.2. Providing
an analysis sufficient to satisfy the requirements of s.101(3) of the Local
Government Act to implement the pathways in each priority unit.
19. Much of
the focus of the past 12 months has been on working with the Joint Committee
and each Partner Council directly to seek agreement on funding matters,
particularly on questions of responsibility and accountability.
20. Most
recently, on 22 July, 31 July, 1 August and 2 August, workshops were held with
Council Chief Executives and each Partner Council to explore ideas on the
contributory fund concept.
21. The
outcome of those workshops and discussion on next steps will occur in the
workshop component of the 3 September meeting.
Members of the TAG Funding Workstream will be in attendance to assist with this
discussion.
Regulatory Workstream
Update
22. The
Regulatory Workstream has been tasked with considering 4 key questions:
22.1. Does
the existing planning and regulatory framework in Hawke’s Bay require
changes to improve consistency across jurisdictions?
22.2. How
supportive / restrictive is the existing framework in terms of Strategy
implementation and what changes could be made to better facilitate
implementation while appropriately managing adverse effects?
22.3. How can
the moral hazard risk associated with implementing coastal defence measures be
managed? That is, the risk of inadvertently encouraging further
development / investment in an area only temporarily protected by a coastal
defence.
22.4. In
consideration of the existing planning and regulatory framework including the
New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement, and based on a high-level assessment of
the actual and potential effects (including cumulative effects) of the proposed
pathways, what are the challenges with gaining resource consents to implement
the proposed pathways?
23. Each
Partner Council is heavily engaged in various plan change and policy projects,
and this has placed a strain on resources. It was originally intended
that this workstream could be advanced with in-house Council expertise, however
with resource limitations this has not been achieved. TAG are now
considering options to advance this work with consultant support. This is
not expected to affect overall project timeframes, but will have budgetary
impacts that need to be worked through.
Governance Workstream
Update
24. The
Governance Workstream is tasked with confirming the role that each Partner
Council and Iwi member of the Joint Committee will take in Strategy
implementation.
25. With much
of the focus on roles and responsibilities currently being debated within the
Funding Workstream, the Governance Workstream is currently on hold.
Progress Summary and
Budget Tracking
26. TAG have
been busy working on the detailed assessments required in the first phase of
Stage 4, and in broad terms the project is tracking in accordance with the
overall project plan.
27. TAG are
mindful that this phase of the project is highly internal and
detail-oriented. This makes it difficult to demonstrate progress to
communities and interested and affected persons.
28. Some key
challenges at this stage of the project are:
28.1. Funding:
Securing alignment between the Partner Councils on funding matters;
28.2. Regulatory:
Resourcing workstreams with internal staff; and
28.3. Triggers:
Resourcing workstreams with internal staff, limited guidance or examples for
how to advance work recommended by Ministry for the Environment’s
guidance.
29. TAG are
actively working on solutions to the above challenges.
30. The
project budget for the 2018-2019 financial year was approximately $30,000
underspent.
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Recommendation
That the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal
Hazards Strategy Joint Committee receives the “Project
Manager’s Update” report.
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Authored by:
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Simon Bendall
Project Manager
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Approved by:
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Chris
Dolley
Group Manager Asset Management
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Attachment/s
There are no
attachments for this report.
