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From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Landslides high above State Highway 67 north of Westport in a stream catchment straddling an active fault-line is worrying the West Coast Regional Council.
An internal engineering staff report has highlighted the deterioration of vegetation on slopes… View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Landslides high above State Highway 67 north of Westport in a stream catchment straddling an active fault-line is worrying the West Coast Regional Council.
An internal engineering staff report has highlighted the deterioration of vegetation on slopes at Barrytown and parts of Buller from Cyclone Ita in 2014, and delves into the progressive erosion in the Lake Stream catchment, 10km northeast of Westport township.
The cyclone caused massive damage throughout the entire West Coast, flattening swathes of native forest and vegetation, particularly in river valleys.
In Buller, the Lake Stream catchment on Mt Rochfort had already split into three channels by the time of the heavy storm this February, but the erosion has now escalated, regional council engineer Paulette Birchfield said.
"Multiple landslides" had left a huge volume of slip material sitting high up in the catchment, about 1 kilometres above the highway.
When the slip material did eventually move it could radically change the stream's direction, with significant potential to spill on to the road at the bottom of the slope, Birchfield said in her report.
The majority of the slips in Lake Stream were in the upper catchment, diverting the flow across a fan. In future heavy rain events the high slip material was likely to mean the stream would "take any number of other flow paths".
Birchfield said the possibility of mechanically diverting the flow and excavating the original Lake Stream channel would be difficult. Steep topography and thick vegetation made both foot and access for machinery challenging.
A large-scale landslide did occur in the catchment in at least 2015, a year after Cyclone Ita, and this had been supplying increased sediment and debris to the Lake Stream channel.
In normal conditions the stream flow would not have sufficient energy to transport additional slip material and the channel would slowly evolve in response.
However, an earlier heavy rainfall event in early May 2020 was probably large enough to move significant volumes of sediment and debris, causing Lake Stream to tear away from its original channel, breaking out in several places.
A 1997 thesis noted that until the downstream channel width and depth was increased to the new flow regime, floodwaters would continue to break out of the channels and drains, causing flooding and sedimentation of farmland and damage to property.
PICTURES: West Coast Regional Council
1: Lake Stream catchment, north-east of Westport.
2: Approximate location of the diversion site in Lake Stream.
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Building work on a single new health facility to replace Westport’s old hospital complex is beginning to make tangible progress, as seen in this view of the site taken last week.
The framework for Buller Health Centre, on the flood-prone … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
Building work on a single new health facility to replace Westport’s old hospital complex is beginning to make tangible progress, as seen in this view of the site taken last week.
The framework for Buller Health Centre, on the flood-prone north-western side of the town, is now standing.
The size and extent of the building’s footprint can now be seen - taking up much of the block bounded by Cobden, Derby and Pakington streets.
It is also being built on a raised foundation of about 1 metre to future-proof the facility from flooding.
The new $20 million-plus facility has had a checkered history since the rebuild was first mooted back in 2011.
Work on the new hospital building, just south of the current main Westport Hospital block, was initially announced as a $30m rebuild in 2011 before being downgraded to a $12m ‘integrated family health centre’.
It was then re-announced as a $20m build by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a 2017 election pledge.
The project started to sputter into life at the end of 2019 when demolition of some buildings got under way.
The West Coast DHB recently said the rebuild was on schedule and the expected completion time frame should be by mid-2023.
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From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The Government says West Coast residents will have "a real voice" in the planned health reforms after the District Health Board structure is dismantled from June.
The elected and appointed West Coast District Health Board will be replaced … View moreFrom local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
The Government says West Coast residents will have "a real voice" in the planned health reforms after the District Health Board structure is dismantled from June.
The elected and appointed West Coast District Health Board will be replaced by a new centralised body mid-year.
Health Minister Andrew Little announced on Thursday the West Coast and eight other regions will be part of a new locality approach pilot with "targeted engagement" to determine the shape of future health services as the health reforms are rolled out over the next two years.
Little said the structure to be piloted would ensure a more direct voice and be better than relying "on a small number of elected reps under the DHBs".
"People living in these nine areas will start to see changes over the next six months. Organisations responsible for providing care will start to work more closely together."
The reforms would ensure a local say and "a real voice" in determining the health services provided in the community, he said.
The pilots would improve how health care was delivered in local communities.
The West Coast is among a mix of nine rural and urban health areas included: Ōtara/Papatoetoe, Hauraki, Taupō/Tūrangi, Wairoa, Whanganui, Porirua, West Coast, Eastern Bay of Plenty and Horowhenua.
"The new locality approach will be a collective of networks that will provide advice to Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority on the health services needs identified by their communities," Little said.
Local communities and iwi would determine their geographic area to become the 'locality', so the area served made sense to the people who lived and worked there.
The area for each locality network would be determined by criteria including priority population groups, iwi boundaries and local government boundaries.
"The areas will be small enough to still feel local and everyone ... will fit into a locality that reflects their community."
A locality commissioner would be appointed for each locality once the localities had been identified and work with the community and service providers on their priorities for local care.
* Public interest journalism funded through NZ On Air
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Every published recipe wins a copy of our special edition Homegrown … View moreDear neighbours,
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Environmentalists want the more than 2 million hectares of stewardship land up for review to go into the conservation estate, but others say it’s not all valuable land and parts should be opened up for development.
Stewardship land was allocated to the Department of Conservation (DOC) when it … View moreEnvironmentalists want the more than 2 million hectares of stewardship land up for review to go into the conservation estate, but others say it’s not all valuable land and parts should be opened up for development.
Stewardship land was allocated to the Department of Conservation (DOC) when it was formed in 1987. About 30 per cent of conservation land, or 2.5 million hectares, is stewardship land, accounting for one-ninth of all New Zealand land – and one third of the West Coast.
The Government announced it would start reclassifying the land on the West Coast and across the top of the South Island. Some land would remain in the DOC estate, but some land with low conservation values could be sold off to private interests.
Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC) and Forest & Bird say most, if not all, of the land should remain under DOC management and the small sections of low value should be rehabilitated to help tackle climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said he totally disagreed that all stewardship land held high conservation values.
“It is clearly not. Large parts of it are really only regenerating scrub land. Parts of Buller’s stewardship land may be beneficial to be freed up.”
Allowing land to be developed would also mean more rates for the council and potentially more jobs for West Coasters, he said.
Read the full story here.
Westport’s housing market does not appear to have been affected by major flooding last year, despite about 500 homes being inundated with floodwater and flood protection work yet to begin.
The biggest flooding event in the West Coast town happened in July, when about 500 homes flooded following … View moreWestport’s housing market does not appear to have been affected by major flooding last year, despite about 500 homes being inundated with floodwater and flood protection work yet to begin.
The biggest flooding event in the West Coast town happened in July, when about 500 homes flooded following heavy rain. Another 22 homes flooded in February when another bout of heavy rain damaged roads and about 70 farms.
Infometrics data shows house values on the West Coast for the year to December 2021 were the lowest in the country at $327,527. Buller’s average price was the lowest on the Coast at $304,657 – one third of the national average of $1m.
However, Buller’s house values also experienced the highest growth on the Coast with a 30.8 per cent rise over the same period. According to QV, prices continued to rise in 2022 with a 10 per cent increase in the March quarter.
Read more here.
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From Local Democracy Reporter Brendon McMahon:
West Coast Regional Council monitoring staff have been busy in the past month, with 79 site visits.
Compliance staff received 16 complaints, issued one formal warning and one abatement notice.
The formal warning was to an Arahura Valley goldminer … View moreFrom Local Democracy Reporter Brendon McMahon:
West Coast Regional Council monitoring staff have been busy in the past month, with 79 site visits.
Compliance staff received 16 complaints, issued one formal warning and one abatement notice.
The formal warning was to an Arahura Valley goldminer for an unconsented water take, and a Kapitia Creek miner received an abatement notice.
Of the 79 site visits, 16 were due to complaints, eight for resource consent monitoring, eight mining compliance and bond release checks, and 47 dairy farm checks.
The Kapitia mine site abatement followed several complaints from one complainant that sediment laden water was being discharged into the stream.
"The mining treatment ponds had a leak in the pond wall. The discharge flowed down a bush creek into Kapitia Creek... The investigation is still ongoing," staff said.
At nearby Stafford, a goldminer and an outside complainant both notified of sediment laden water escaping into Waimea Creek.
"The miner had shut the operation down to cease any further discharges."
When the council visited the creek had cleared upstream, but deeper pools downstream were "discoloured with sedimentation".
No decision had yet been taken on enforcement action.
At Fox Creek, a miner received a formal warning for taking water without consent after staff visited the Arahura Valley site following a complaint about sediment discharges.
Staff found the miner carrying out "exploration testing" but the creek was not discoloured.
The miner is now applying for a water take consent.
Council staff found visible sediment in Boatmans Creek in Inangahua following a complaint the stream was "significantly discoloured".
An adjacent farm property, impacted by the February floods, was found to be the culprit after the landowner moved gravel in the creek bed, breaking permitted activity rules allowing bank reinstatement and removal of flood debris. An "educative approach" was used and the landowner was seeking a resource consent.
At Ruatapu, a complaint about harvested logs from a forestry block being dragged through a creek was "a minor non-compliance".
The forester had neglected to notify the council as required but there were no issues with the operation method, staff said.
Other complaints/incidents not yet found to be either compliant or non-compliant included:
* Multiple complaints about a burn-off at Blue Spur discharging smoke and ash on to neighbouring properties.
* Multiple other complaints about discharge from the Kapitia goldmine.
* Large amounts of baleage wrap "caught high in the trees" along the Little Totara River north of Charleston and washed down the river during the February flood was traced to the owner who was organising a clean-up.
* Flooding at Inangahua allegedly caused by land development on a farm was related to severe weather events but the nearby land development might be exacerbating the situation;
* A complaint about the discharge of dust from a gravel quarry in the Grey River bed at Omoto. The gravel access road to the site was the likely cause but as the road was public it did not breach regional rules or resource consent conditions.
The gravel operator had been advised to consider the neighbouring properties and use a water cart.
From Local Democracy Reporter Brendon McMahon
A proposal to improve drainage of floodwaters around Westport will have further cost implications for the proposed flood protection scheme for the town.
A proposal to improve, extend or build new culverts and open up existing drains is detailed in a … View moreFrom Local Democracy Reporter Brendon McMahon
A proposal to improve drainage of floodwaters around Westport will have further cost implications for the proposed flood protection scheme for the town.
A proposal to improve, extend or build new culverts and open up existing drains is detailed in a report by West Coast Regional Council engineering staff following investigation into improving drainage.
"Any costs associated with improving the drainage within the rating district will be in addition to the flood protection scheme budget that was consulted on in 2021," the report notes.
Currently the flood protection scheme is expected to cost more than $10 million.
The drainage proposal was to be considered by the Westport Rating District Joint Committee on Monday (April 11) and follows recommended emergency works by the Westport Technical Advisory Group (TAG) following post-flood damage assessments from the July and February floods.
The report notes that drainage issues had been identified at the consultation phase of the regional council's 2021-31 long-term plan process last year.
The council had subsequently adopted a plan to address the Westport flooding issue via extensive floodwalls and stopbanks.
"Drainage was identified by many submitters ... as a major issue and one that needed to be considered alongside other flood mitigation proposals."
Staff had now inspected the main "arterial" drains and culverts in Westport and reported there were options for improving drainage issues.
"This includes cleaning out the existing drains to improve flow, increase the size of culverts, and increase the number of culverts and appurtenances to improve the efficiency of the flood protection structures."
This included 12.8 kilometres of existing drains around the town, 34 existing and an estimated 31 potential culverts.
Further investigation was needed on culvert size once the height of the proposed floodbank for the town was confirmed.
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