After years of discussion and months of workshops, Tauranga's council has settled on a way to alert 45,000 coastal residents to an incoming tsunami.
Councillors voted seven to two yesterday for a combination of two alerting methods - an in-home device and a network of outdoor speakers along the coast.
The dual systems, which would supplement the national taxpayer-funded "backbone" alerting system, came with an estimated price tag of $3.5m, plus $450,000 a year to maintain.
They would be introduced between 2019 and 2022 in areas at risk of being flooded by a tsunami.
Councillors agreed to include the funding in Tauranga City Council's budget for the next 10 years, which is being drafted.
Already laden with pricey projects that would potentially result in unpalatable rates rises, the council has signalled it may trim the draft budget before taking it out for public consultation next year.
Mayor Greg Brownless said that process would include a discussion about how the in-house alerting devices should be funded.
As yesterday's decision stood, the council would wear the cost of putting the plug-in device in at-risk homes. However, 'user pays' options and targeted rates were also discussed.
Councillors bandied about costs for the devices ranging from $45 per household if they were going into every home to $200 if few people opted into having one.
Whether the money would come out of rates - targeted or general - or from individual purchases was also still to be investigated, and the total costs to be confirmed.
Bill Grainger, an air raid siren advocate, said he had faith in the effectiveness of the outdoor speakers but voted against the recommendation largely because of his concerns about the council getting involved with putting technology into people's homes that would have to be maintained and replaced.
He believed it would cost ratepayers more down the line.
Catherine Stewart also voted against, saying she favoured the outdoor speakers and people using cellphone alert systems at home.
How they voted
Yes: Greg Brownless, Gail McIntosh, Terry Molloy, Leanne Brown, Larry Baldock, Rick Curach, Steve Morris
No: Catherine Stewart, Bill Grainger
Absent: Kelvin Clout, Max Mason
Tsunami alerts: decision timeline
- 2004: Boxing Day Tsunami leaves coastal Bay residents feeling unsafe
- 2011-13: Council investigated a fixed siren system
- 2013: Council adopted a resilience approach instead of sirens. Includes public education, tsunami research and installation of evacuation routes, signs and locations
- 2016: Kaikoura earthquake in November, plus poorly managed tsunami alert in September bring issue to the fore again. Council asks staff to investigate options, including sirens.
- 2017: Council workshops options and hears from other councils about what they did.
- Yesterday: Council votes in favour of combination of outdoor alert system and in-home device.