Flooded streets in Pāpāmoa in 2005. Photo / NZME
A group representing some of Tauranga's most powerful property industry figures is appealing rule changes impacting more than 30,000 homes.
The Urban Task Force's appeal is one of three Tauranga City Council received against a decision to go ahead with Plan Change 27. The council says the appeals will be heard by the Environment Court.
The change to the Tauranga City Plan was approved by an independent panel after public submissions and hearings last year.
It introduces new rules to manage the effects of flooding in intense rainfall events on people, properties and infrastructure.
The change tightens rules for mitigating flood risks in new developments and impacts what owners of thousands of existing homes deemed at risk from flooding can do with their properties.
The council notified the plan change in late 2020, giving it immediate legal effect.
At the same time, it released new flood maps of the city based on modelling of one-in-100-year storms and accounting for climate change forecasts.
The maps deemed 30,400 properties to be a varying risk of flooding, thousands more than under the previous modelling. The modelled flood risks were added to LIM reports for affected properties.
Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said all submissions made during the hearing process that followed the notification were considered before the final decision was made.
The task force is an incorporated society formed to represent Tauranga's property industry on behalf of property owners, developers, managers, and business professionals associated with the sector. Developers were among those to submit against the plan change last year.
In a written statement yesterday, task force board chairman Scott Adams said the organisation would appeal the decision. The task force believed the plan change would have a damaging effect on property values across the city and believed the flood maps the plan used were inaccurate.
Adams, also of development company Carrus, believed Plan Change 27 created uncertainty and "an atmosphere of mistrust".
He said while the task force understood flooding was a natural hazard issue the city faced and it supported the intent of the work, it was "strongly opposed" to the council's approach.
Adams said he was particularly concerned the plan gave the council power to amend non-statutory flooding maps at any time.
The group believed the plan was able to create a high-flood zone on someone's property without any prior notice, potentially making their home difficult to sell or insure.
"We believe ratepayers will bear the costs of this poor decision for many years as the flood mapping is woefully inaccurate, does not factor in recent existing private sector mitigation and is likely to result in frequent challenges from the city's homeowners."
Adams told the Bay of Plenty Times he believed it was "unfair" that property developers had already been hit with costs due to these changes.
He said even though the plan change was not yet operative, it had "immediate" legal effect from the date it was notified.
In his view: "These guys who want to get on with it, build the city and increase housing supply, are being asked to do flood mitigation on properties that aren't in a high flood zone - but that's what [the council's] inaccurate mapping shows."
John Pullar, spokesman for the body corporate of Sun Pacific Villas in Mount Maunganui, said it supported the task force's move and would join it in appealing the decision.
Pullar, also a Whakatāne District councillor, said the plans were upsetting for some property owners.
"Some property owners - especially along where we are - will be quite distressed because it affects your resale value."
Tolley said the panel considered the views of all submitters on the plan change proposal, and evidence presented to them at a hearing in December before making the decision.
The panel consisted of four experts in planning, urban design, tikanga Māori, infrastructure and stormwater.
The decision was publicly notified on April 11, with the appeal period closing on May 25.
Tolley said the council received three appeals that would be heard by the Environment Court.
Because of this, it was inappropriate to comment on the substance of the appeals ahead of that process, Tolley said.
"Plan Change 27 seeks to reduce the risk of flooding over time, as development or redevelopment occurs," she said.
It was also a "key aspect" of the Integrated Stormwater Project which was developed following significant flooding events in 2005 and 2013, she said.
"The first principle of the ISP is to reduce the safety risk to people by introducing a safety-focused level of service, as well as managing flooding through infrastructure investment and regulation."
Throughout the plan change submission and hearing process, Bay of Plenty Regional Council provided support for the plan, which gives effect to the Regional Policy Statement natural hazards chapter, she said.
A council spokesperson said concerned residents can request a review of the flooding risk that had been identified on their property at any time by contacting the city council with all relevant property information and a waters engineer can review the situation, with the potential to amend the maps.
It was also important to remember mapping was "forward-looking" and took into account expected climate change effects on heavy rainfall and frequency.
