Flooding fears: Residents concerned about Rotorua housing plans

By Laura Smith for Local Democracy Reporting

The possibility of a proposed government housing development in Rotorua flooding in heavy rain dominates discussions at a public meeting about the plans.

Some Ngongotahā residents seemed unconvinced it would not but the developer and engineer said they had modelled for, and were mitigating, flood risks.

The meeting on Wednesday, held at the Ngongotahā Community Hall and attended by hundreds, was the second about 31 Ngongotahā Rd, hosted by the Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers.

The site was first considered for housing in 2018 but concerns about flooding and congestion led to its eventual rejection by Housing Minister Megan Woods.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD) has since bought the site through its Land For Housing programme and has plans to build about 350 homes over about a decade. The first stage would be about 195 homes.

Yesterday's meeting centred on the probability of the development flooding as residents recalled flooding in the area in 2018 and worried about how larger events would impact it.

Watchman Residential director Marcus Jacobson and MHUD deputy chief executive place Ben Dalton said it was at the beginning of the process.

Jacobson said there was a memorandum of understanding and the consenting process was under way.

"This is really about delivering houses, right, because we are short."

He said there were a number of models to help with affordability and there would be upcoming sessions about the Kiwibuild programme and how to buy some of the homes.

He gave an overview of the site and said the "progressive delivery" would allow the community, including the school, to prepare for demand.

Wetland to mitigate flood risk

The development would include a mix of housing, including one and two-bedroom options, as well as walkways, cycleways and a walkable wetland, he said.

This four-hectare wetland would be the main tool for mitigating flood risk and be in the portion of the site in the floodplain. He said there would be no building in this area. Plans also included improving the health of the nearby Waiteti Stream, and erosion control.

Jacobson moved on to the topic "everyone is talking about".

"We know you are worried about flooding."

He said it had been working with an independent environmental consultant to look at flood modelling for the area. This had been presented to both Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council and would be peer-reviewed.

He said the findings were "well within" the council's flood modelling for both one-in-100 and one-in-500-year rain events.

The next thing was to work with the Ngongotahā community and iwi.

Questions from the floor were heavily focused on the flooding potential.

Ngāti Ngararanui spokesman Guy Ngatai asked about the modelling and said the 2018 flood saw 120mm of rainfall in a day and displaced residents from dozens of homes.

Project engineer James Dufty said the 2018 flood event was the largest the area had experienced and was deemed a one-in-100-year event.

Modelling was based on the larger events and incorporated worst-case scenarios for climate change. He said the existing floodplain was based on the 2018 event.

"To put it in context, the flood model is twice the rainfall in 2018."

To a question about lake level, he said if there were issues downstream of the site, it was not their issue.

What they had to prove was that there was no impact from the site. He also said there would be no impact on neighbouring properties.

Attendee Dennis Ward said he had lived in the town for 42 years, and asked Jacobson if the houses would be bought back at market value if they were flooded. The answer was no, the houses were not in the floodplain.

Pauline de Jong brought with her pictures of historic flooding at the site where the development was planned.

She asked whether insurance companies had been asked if the houses would be covered, and was told an insurance company had been contacted and would provide cover.

After more questions about the potential to flood, Jacobson said: "You are not listening. We are not building in the floodplain."

Residents' association chairman Reynold Macpherson suggested a map of the floodplain could be provided at upcoming drop-in sessions so people could compare it to memories of previous flooding.

At the end of the meeting there was a show of hands for who supported the plans and who did not.

Between 50 to 60 percent indicated they did not support them. The rest were split between supporting and undecided.

Assurance on no shortcuts

Jacobson said they were waiting to hear from Waka Kotahi about potential changes to mitigate traffic concerns.

The development was lodged as a Fast Track project and the application would be viewed by the environment minister.

Jacobson said this did not mean shortcuts were being made but sped the process up. Earthworks consents had been lodged and building consents would be as well once a decision was made on the Fast Track process.

He said community engagement would begin in a month to provide more detail about the proposal.

Macpherson previously said the second meeting was called to provide public consultation, and for attendees to hear the specific plans and ask follow-up questions.

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