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Contents

Preparing for coastal change

Introduction

Part One: The changing climate

Part Two: Implications for New Zealand’s coastal margins

Part Three: Responding to climate change

Conclusion

Factsheet 1: Components of sea level

Factsheet 2: Tides

Factsheet 3: Storm surge

Factsheet 4: Waves

Factsheet 5: Coastal erosion

Factsheet 6: Coastal inundation

Part Three: Responding to climate change

For maintaining or developing sustainable and resilient coastal communities, it is fundamental to manage the effects of coastal hazards, and the gradual changes to these hazards as a result of climate change.

While climate change will affect a wide range of local government functions, it should not be treated in isolation. Instead, climate change should be a considered factor in all coastal planning and decision-making.

Risk management is a useful way to assess the climate change impacts and prioritise possible ways to proactively respond to them. This process can enhance our capacity to adapt to the future effects of climate change (ie, building adaptive capacity) through minimising, adjusting to, or taking advantage of, its impacts.

The legislative context

Regional and territorial authorities have responsibilities and duties relating to avoiding or managing coastal hazard risk. Primarily, the planning framework of the Local Government Act 2002 and the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) require this.

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) is a guiding policy under the RMA for managing the coastal environment. The NZCPS guides local authorities in their day-to-day management of the coastal environment. Councils must ‘give effect to’ the NZCPS in planning documents such as district or regional plans, as well as ‘give regard to’ its relevant provisions when considering consent applications.

In 2008, the NZCPS was reviewed to determine what changes were needed in light of experience with the existing statement, and to respond to emerging issues in coastal resource management such as climate change. The Department of Conservation released the ‘Proposed NZCPS 2008’ for public consultation, see www.doc.govt.nz

Another key piece of legislation of relevance to coastal hazard risk management is the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act (CDEM) 2002. The CDEM Act primarily focuses on the sustainable management of hazards and on the safety of people, property and infrastructure in an emergency. The Act recommends an approach based on risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery. Risk reduction is primarily achieved through proactive planning as required by the RMA, the Local Government Act 2002, and the Building Act 2004.

You can find more information on the legislation relevant to coastal hazards and climate change (and on the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement) in Chapter 6 and Appendix 1 of the source report. An overview of relevant case law is in Appendix 2 of the source report.

Key principles for managing coastal hazards

Local government must operate under a range of principles as set out in the legislation described above, or that have evolved through good practice and case law. We recommend incorporating the following principles into all aspects of planning and decision-making about coastal margins:

• Precautionary approach: Decision-making takes account of the level of risk, uses existing knowledge and accounts for uncertainties. A precautionary approach should be used when making planning decisions that relate to new development as well as to changes to existing development within coastal margins.
• Progressive risk reduction: New developments should not be exposed to, nor increase, the levels of coastal hazard risks over their intended serviceable lifetime. For existing developments the level of risk should be progressively reduced.
• Importance of natural coastal margins: The dual role of natural coastal margins as the fundamental form of coastal defence and as an environmental, social and cultural resource must be recognised in the decision-making processes. Consequently, natural coastal margins should be secured and promoted.
• Integrated, sustainable approach: An integrated and sustainable approach to the management of development and coastal hazard risk should be adopted. This approach aims to contribute to the environmental, cultural, social and economic well-being of people and communities.

Figure 6 summarises the basic principles for coastal hazard risk management and how they apply to different categories of coastal development.

Examples of applying these principles include:

• working in partnership with coastal communities
• seeking opportunities to incorporate planning for climate change into all new and existing developments at the coast
• incorporating flexibility to deal with changing risks and uncertainties
• recognising the value of no-regrets, low-regrets options to managing climate change risks
• using a risk-based approach to decision-making regarding coastal development
• avoiding actions that make it more difficult to cope with coastal hazard and climate risks in the future.

Figure 6: Basic hierarchy of principles relating to managing coastal hazard risk and the different levels of coastal development to which the principles apply.

Managing coastal hazard risks exacerbated by climate change

It is important to first identify and understand coastal hazards, vulnerabilities and potential consequences within coastal margins. This will provide a foundation for land-use and emergency planning policies to manage the associated risks.

We recommend that you use a process based on the New Zealand Standard for Risk Management, AS/NZS4360. This process fits easily into the plan preparation and review required by the RMA and CDEM Act, at the stages where issues are being identified and a range of possible response options evaluated.

This risk assessment process is not the only one that can be used. Where a local authority already has an existing risk assessment process, climate change should simply be added to it as a factor.

To manage coastal hazard risks, first examine the risk by:

• identifying the coastal margins and describing the local assets or infrastructure that are at risk from coastal hazards
• considering how such risk may be caused or exacerbated by climate change or by changing development in coastal margins
• evaluating the likelihood and consequences of such risk over the timeframes of interest.

The box below provides some questions to help examine the coastal hazard risks.

This process then allows climate change risks and subsequent responses to be prioritised and compared equally with other risks, resource availability and cost issues (including works) that the local authority faces.

An important part of managing coastal hazard risk is being able to measure whether your planning approaches and the risk-management activities you are doing are effective (Example 2).

In the context of a changing climate, monitoring the drivers of coastal hazards (ie, sea level, waves, storms, tides and sediment supply) and the magnitude of the hazards themselves (eg, surveying coastal retreat rates) is also important. It can help identify which aspects have natural climate variability and which result from climate change.

More detail on the risk assessment process is contained in Chapter 5 of the source report and sections 4.2.3 and 6.5 of the Climate Change Effects and Impacts Assessment manual (available at http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate/climate-change-effect-impacts-assessments-may08).

Mechanisms for avoiding and reducing coastal hazard risks

Managing present-day and future risk from coastal hazards through policy development, planning and resource consenting involves a combination of risk-avoidance and risk-reduction activities.

Taking a precautionary approach to planning new development, infrastructure and services to avoid coastal hazards over their intended lifetime is the most effective and sustainable approach in the long term. This approach is relevant to all coastal development situations, from completely undeveloped coastal margins to developed sites or high-density urban areas.

For proposed new development sites, regional and district planning controls can be used to ensure that new development is located beyond (ie, landward of) defined coastal hazard zones.

For already developed sites, a wider mix of mechanisms for avoiding, reducing and managing coastal hazard risk can be useful:

1. information and education
2. risk management through land-use planning
3. management of coastal hazard risk through rules in regional and district plans
4. building controls and consents
5. non-statutory and other supporting measures.

Information and education

Increased public awareness of coastal hazard risk is typically achieved through making available and/or facilitating and supporting:

• educational material
• natural registers/databases
• hazard maps
• websites
• public talks and meetings
• use of media
• coastcare groups (to build practical community experience and ‘ownership’ of issues)
• technical reports on the extent and significance of coastal hazards (options for reducing risks associated with these hazards are also important).

There are also ways of raising public awareness through statutory mechanisms, such as:

• incorporating hazard and risk information in regional and district plans, and other planning documents (eg, Long-term Council Community Plans, strategic plans and possibly annual plans)
• the Land Information Memorandum (LIM). A LIM can include information on potential erosion and inundation hazards that may affect the site
• placing notices of coastal hazard risk on property titles under sections 73 and 74 of the Building Act 2004.

However, providing information on coastal hazard risks does not always influence people’s decision-making on purchasing or living in property within at-risk areas. It is also unlikely to result in owners proactively and sustainably reducing coastal hazard risk to their property.

Education and the provision of hazard and risk information underpin all aspects of coastal hazard risk management, but are ineffective in managing coastal hazard risk on their own.

Risk management through land-use planning

Under the RMA, regional councils are responsible for controlling the use of land for the purposes of avoiding or mitigating natural hazards.

Coastal development and the effects of coastal hazards (and the impacts climate change has on these hazards) are primarily managed by regional, territorial and unitary councils through the statutory land-use planning process:

• regional policy statements, regional coastal (environment) plans (Figure 7) and district plans are prepared under the RMA. They must ‘give effect to’ national policy statements and the NZCPS
• subdivision and resource consent considerations must ‘have regard to’ the objectives, policies, methods and rules defined in: the regional policy statement, regional and district plans, and the provisions of the NZCPS, national policy statements and Part II of the RMA.

Figure 7: Plan boundaries as defined in Environment Bay of Plenty’s Regional Coastal Environmental Plan. Several regional coastal plans cover only the coastal marine area (ie, seaward of MHWS), whereas others also include the land–sea interface in the coastal environment. (CMA=Coastal Marine Area, MHWS = Mean High Water Springs, MLWS= Mean Low Water Springs).

The effectiveness of managing coastal hazard risk through the RMA process primarily comes down to:

• how effective the rules in the district plan are in controlling subdivision, use and development activities in coastal hazard areas
• how well the overarching policies and objectives (as defined within the NZCPS, the regional policy statement and regional plans) are encapsulated and specified within the district plans.

The effectiveness also depends on the degree to which compliance with the district plan is monitored and enforced.

Management of coastal hazard risk through rules in regional and district plans

Requirements will vary between districts and regions, but effective regional and district plans that relate to managing coastal hazard risks, and the effects of climate change, should include rules and other methods that:

• encourage early proactive action
• recognise the importance of coastal set-back zones for coastal hazard areas covering a lengthy planning horizon such as 100 years
• state a preference for risk avoidance for new development, and risk reduction for existing developed areas
• do not lock in future generations to particular or restrictive approaches to risk management; nor reduce the range of risk-management approaches that are available at present
• encourage no-regrets, low-regrets and win–win solutions to reducing risks and building long-term community resilience
• place a strong emphasis on integrated planning across the mean high water springs boundary
• maintain and/or improve the natural coastal defences and buffers
• strategically identify in the regional and district plans (or, where appropriate, in other non-statutory plans or strategies) where certain management approaches (such as defensive, ‘hold the line’ approaches) may be appropriate and acceptable
• are specific about what is not permitted in district plans in relation to new or intensified coastal development in coastal hazard areas, and/or building new or upgrading coastal protection works within the coastal environment
• are based on a combination of coastal hazard risks, rather than treating coastal erosion, storm inundation and tsunami risk independently
• identify and allow a mix of complementary statutory and non-statutory risk-reduction activities
• facilitate ongoing research and understanding of coastal hazards, vulnerabilities and potential consequences within coastal margins, how these are changing and what is driving these changes.

Building controls and consents

Section 71 of the Building Act 2004 requires district and city councils to refuse a building consent if the following applies:

• the land is subject to one or more natural hazards
• the building work is likely to accelerate, worsen or result in a natural hazard on that land or any other property – unless adequate provision is made to protect the land or restore the damage.

Under section 72 of the Building Act, district and city councils must issue building consents on land that is at risk from coastal hazards, or any other hazard, provided that the building complies with the Building Code and that the building itself does not accelerate or worsen or extend the hazard to another property.

Land Information Memoranda (LIMs) and Project Information Memoranda (PIMs) are key elements in providing known site and hazard risk information to someone interested in a particular piece of land. A LIM states all the information a council holds about a piece of land; it generally provides a more up-to-date and detailed source of hazard information than will be contained in a district plan. The information provided by the LIM can also become the basis for liability actions (see section 4.3 of the source report).

A PIM notes the requirements of other Acts that might be relevant to proposed building work. It also includes information likely to be relevant to the proposed work, such as potential erosion, subsidence, slippage and flooding.

Non-statutory and other supporting measures

A range of other tools and techniques can be used to support the main statutory measures for managing coastal hazard risks and to promote awareness and understanding among the public. Their use will vary between regions and include the following:

• Dune restoration initiatives (eg, Coastcare) have proven to be highly successful in enhancing the buffer provided by the natural dune system. They are an effective way of empowering a community and raising their awareness of coastal hazard issues.
• Structure plans and growth strategies provide direction for integrated urban growth. These can be used to avoid development and infrastructure being located in areas prone to coastal hazards. However, they have no legal effect, unless they become part of a document such as a plan developed under the RMA.
• Design guidelines promote good practice for things like subdivision layout, development location and building design. Design guidelines can be used to avoid and reduce the potential impact of coastal hazards on structures, and also help emergency management through designing for evacuation. They also have no legal effect unless incorporated into a RMA plan.
• Community- or issue-based strategies can provide long-term direction for, and identification of, the range of issues relating to coastal development.
• Iwi management plans or other documents identify important issues relating to Māori. Any relevant planning document recognised by an iwi authority and lodged with the territorial authority needs to be taken into account in RMA planning documents and consent processes.
• Financial measures can be provided by the council (eg, rating relief or grants – which may include land management agreements), by organisations such as Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (encouraging rural landowners to maintain undeveloped coastal areas and/or to assist with land management for conservation purposes), or by the government (eg, through reserves).

Dealing with residual risk

Risk management measures will never completely remove coastal hazard risks. The left-over component is referred to as the residual risk, which typically means living with it and accepting it. Any associated consequences can then be dealt with via emergency management (under the CDEM Act 2002) or by signalling risk through the insurance process.

Insurance signals may include increased premiums or the refusal to continue insurance cover based on previous losses incurred. These can provide a disincentive for asset investment within high-risk hazard areas that have previously suffered financial loss. However, this can result in extreme pressure on councils to provide ‘protection’ against the hazard. Alternatively, insurance companies can work in partnership with councils to identify sustainable options for managing hazard risks. Such an approach has been adopted in the Coromandel in response to developing sustainable options for managing river flooding.

Challenges in reducing coastal hazard risk

There are some significant challenges in achieving effective risk reduction through the land-use planning framework. These relate particularly to relocating property at risk and managing existing use rights, the management of esplanade reserves on eroding coastlines, and managing the ongoing pressure for coastal protection works to ‘hold the line’ on eroding coasts.

Planned or managed retreat

‘Managed retreat’ is defined as any strategic decision to withdraw, relocate (Figure 8) or abandon private or public assets that are at risk of being impacted by coastal hazards.

The alternative would be a considerable increase in the scale of hard coastal protection works that are installed. This may be an appropriate long-term strategy in certain (exceptional) circumstances, but does not fit comfortably with the values and principles of sustainably managing coastal margins.

Figure 8: Relocation of a property back from the eroding coastline on the West Coast. Photographs courtesy of Doug Ramsay.

Existing use rights

A significant coastal hazard issue for practitioners relates to existing use rights under section 10 of the RMA. This provision allows property owners to construct a replacement building on the same site, provided the effects of the new building/use are the same as or similar to the existing building/use. However, reliance on section 10 to safeguard existing use rights does not extend to uses of land managed through regional plans for the purposes of controlling hazards or restricting the use of the coastal marine area under section 12 of the RMA. So if someone wants to rebuild in a hazard zone, an integrated approach to manage existing use rights in coastal hazard zones may be required (see Example 3). In addition, using a district plan to control existing use rights in coastal hazard zones can be a problem where existing buildings are not altered.

Esplanade reserves and strips

The RMA enables territorial authorities to create esplanade reserves or strips at the time of consent for new subdivision. These contribute to the protection of conservation values, enable public access to or along the coast, and enable public recreational use adjacent to the sea.

Although they provide a buffer at the coast, reserves or strips are not a complete solution for reducing coastal hazard risk. They can assist in managing natural hazards while protecting conservation values and enabling public access and compatible recreational use.

Esplanade reserve land is often backed by houses, or infrastructure serving residential development. Ongoing coastal erosion can cause the progressive loss of the reserve, leading to the potential loss of legal public access to the coast.

In many places, there is also considerable pressure on councils from owners of property that back onto a reserve, to protect it. Front-row property owners may also have constructed un-consented protection works on public reserves. However, councils do not have responsibility to protect reserves as a means of protecting private property.

Coastal protection structures

Where development takes place in coastal hazard zones, there is likely to be pressure on local authorities from property owners for hard structures to protect private properties. Such coastal hazard structures include seawalls, groynes and dykes which impact on other values such as amenity, public access, and natural character. Many private property owners believe it is within their rights to protect their property (under common law property rights) even if this has adverse effects on adjacent land.

Most constructed coastal defences on New Zealand’s coastline that protect residential property will have a limited lifetime – at best, probably 10–20 years. Generally, they are not constructed to a standard to withstand the significant storm events that may occur. They are usually not as permanent as the residents who are ‘protected’ by them assume. On coastlines that are retreating, the effectiveness of such defences is continually being reduced while the potential negative impacts caused by the defences often increases. This process is likely to be accelerated by climate change.

There may or may not be specific rules in regional and district plans (see Example 4) that control the use of coastal protection works. Regardless, there will continue to be considerable pressure on councils to give consent to protection structures – particularly in the aftermath of storm events where retreat or inundation has occurred. There is a temptation to use coastal protection works as a short-term measure to ‘buy some time’ (so that long-term options can be explored and implemented). In reality, once defence works are in place, it is extremely difficult to remove them.

In some locations, ongoing coastal protection is a long-term option (typically in highly developed urban areas with a long history of coastal protection). Regional and district plans could strategically identify where ‘hold the line’ options may be appropriate, and make hard protection works a prohibited activity outside these areas. While the introduction of such measures can be challenging, the complications that arise from not managing coastal development and protection works are far more complex and expensive in the long run.

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