Massey, Beach Haven, Stanley Point and Bayswater are just some of the sites that Gibson has reported on since the Auckland Anniversary storm wreaked havoc around the city.
Many of these houses date back decades, some as far as the 1960s, but that’s not always the case. Some homes affected by landslips were built in the last decade. Asked how landowners got consent to build in these areas, Gibson says this is no easy feat. Pointing to a North Shore example that she has reported on, Gibson notes that the paperwork involved is incredibly arduous.
“The geotechnical reports are extensive,” she says.
“You would feel buried in paper if I showed you the amount of checking and the amount of thought that went into that.”
All of this building has been done legally within the confines of New Zealand rules and regulations, but the concern is that many of these consent decisions were made on the basis of cliff erosion happening far slower than it actually is.
“Auckland Council did modelling on this and their expectation was that cliff regression would occur at a rate of one to five metres per century. That is quite a lot, but they make the point that this doesn’t happen in a slow, orderly fashion, centimetre by centimetre.”
During the floods, for instance, we see massive erosion happen rapidly under many of these homes.
“You need to remember that Waitematā is very good for tunnel machines, but it’s not very good to be building on. It’s rather slippery, slidey and akin to clay.”
Gibson says that North Shore Councillor Chris Darby has suggested more active monitoring of the coastal environment and offering advice to homeowners about how to limit the effect of erosion.
But should we even be building in these areas in the first place? What impact will insurers have on the decision land and homeowners make in the future? And is it time for building rules to evolve to take more account of climate change?
Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast to hear Anne Gibson address these issues and more.
