Behind the scenes: Land categorisation decisions in Hawke’s Bay explained

Hawke's Bay Regional Council general manager of asset management Chris Dolley speaking about land categorisation. Photo / Paul Taylor

Land categorisation decisions being made in Hawke’s Bay will be in the spotlight for months to come. The number of properties classed as Category 3 is continuing to rise. Amid calls for certainty about the future of homes and properties smashed by the cyclone, Hawke’s Bay Today takes a behind-the-scenes look at how the big decisions impacting the livelihoods of thousands are being made.

THE PROCESS

The reality was that, after Cyclone Gabrielle, not everyone was going to be able to go back to live on their land.

When a Government taskforce created a pilot system for land categorisation, the process for determining what that might look like began.

In May, the pilot system was taken over by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC).

Simply put, land categorisation is a risk assessment that places flood-prone areas into risk categories (each one explained further below).

“[That is] important for people to understand. It’s not a negotiation at a property level about what the property owner would like to see,” HBRC general manager of asset management Chris Dolley said.

“Our job – a very difficult job – is to make an assessment around the risk to life and that is what we are doing.”

The first maps showing which areas had been provisionally placed into each category were released on June 1, covering thousands of homes. Those maps are now being updated regularly.

Homes in Esk Valley in the days after the February cyclone. That area has been zoned Category 3. Photo / Warren Buckland

Dolley said the process for releasing maps and decisions was being done as quickly as possible, as people wanted to move on with their lives.

“If you look at other work we do at defining hazards, an example might be a coastal hazard line ... and we would normally take 18 months to do that work. But we simply don’t have 12 or 18 or 24 months to work through in great detail all of the issues [with land categorisation].”

THE TEAM

HBRC is the lead agency behind land categorisation decisions. It is working with other councils and the Government, but is essentially in charge of placing areas into risk categories across Hawke’s Bay.

A team of more than 30 has been assembled, including a mix of council staff and consultants.

“We have two core people that are fulltime and they draw on the rest of the team,” Dolley said.

The regional council's Chris Dolley and Louise McPhail speaking about the land categorisation process. Photo / Paul Taylor

The wider team consists of engineers, a “capital delivery team” that focuses on costs, community connectors who talk to affected property owners, a professional services team working through possible solutions, and visual artists working on mapping.

“If you drew in everyone working on this subject you probably would have about 30 or 40 people who are contributing to it.”

THE DATA

Making decisions on which areas should be placed into each risk category is not easy.

HBRC has relied on a wide range of data. That includes high-resolution imagery taken by plane after the cyclone, information from stickered house assessments (provided by individual councils), insurance information, data and pictures collected by “a team trawling social media”, as well as site visits.

HBRC also has its own extensive data on flood risks and catchments.

Property owners can also write in and provide further information if they want a categorisation changed or reviewed.

“The team then work through that and we have a bit of a process where someone assesses it and it gets reviewed and it is also signed off and reviewed by [consultancy firm] PDP,” Dolley said.

“We have done 200 reviews, and in Pakowhai specifically there were about 70 requests [for categorisation reviews].

“For every person who writes in wanting to be a 1, someone writes in who wants to be a 3.”

THE BREAKDOWN

As of mid-August, there were 330 Hawke’s Bay homes provisionally placed in Category 3 and more than 1000 properties in various sub-sections of Category 2.

Meanwhile, more than 1300 properties have been moved into Category 1, which means they have been deemed safe to live in and have sufficient flood protection measures.

Category 3 homes are in areas deemed unsafe to live in due to flood risks. Owners will be offered a buyout and negotiations will likely begin in October.

“The categorisation is not really about whether you were flooded or not, [it is focused on whether] flooding constitutes a risk to your life,” Dolley said.

Category 2 includes sub-categories and is for properties that will eventually be moved into Category 1 or 3.

Category 2C* means properties are close to being placed back into Category 1, Category 2C means improved or repaired flood protection is needed, such as stopbanks, while Category 2A means there is more work required to determine which category those properties will land in.

Category 2P is more complex. Dolley said “we don’t like the 2P because there is still a bit of uncertainty around the pathways for 2P”.

“2P is where there is a property-level intervention [needed].”

That means there were “no plausible, significant, community-based interventions” available, and those 27 properties in 2P may require the likes of raised homes or retaining walls.

Who will pay for that is yet to be determined.

CATEGORY 3 GROWING

The number of homes in Category 3 has been growing since June 1.

It has gone from 236 homes on June 1 to 330 by mid-August and could yet grow further.

Dolley said the initial maps released on June 1 were produced in a matter of weeks and more assessments were required on 2A areas, which had led to the increase.

For example, 55 homes in the Pakowhai area were moved to Category 3 earlier this month.

“In terms of Pakowhai, we need to remember that the majority of Pakowhai was [initially] 2A.

“And that was signalling that we have more work to do and it could go either way.

“We had a whole lot of ideas put forward by the community and we were working through those and as we were working through those we didn’t think that they were feasible options that could be delivered, so we have ended up in Category 3.”

HBRC recovery manager Louise McPhail said “we are hoping to, by mid-September, have the Category 3s signed off” and finalised.

She said various community meetings were being held and Category 3 communities given two weeks’ notice to make any final submissions.

That would allow Hastings and Napier councils to begin their consultation for buyouts around early October.

THE BOUNDARY

Dolley said not everyone was happy with the decisions, including those for Category 3 areas, “but we have to make a decision”.

“It is hardest at the edge of the line, because someone has to put a line on the page.

“Sometimes it is very obvious – say if you are in Pakowhai and the water depth was 4m it is pretty obvious.

“But where you are on the edge and you want to discuss ‘well what is that depth of water that is dangerous to life’ – that is the difficult work and there is a lot of discussions [about that].

“And I’m proud of the work the team has done.”

Dolley said it had not been an easy process “but there is reward in it”.

“Our mantra has been to do the best by our communities, so get the best deal we can from Government and move people through the process as quickly as possible while recognising we need to do a quality job – and recognising that tension.”

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.