Natural Hazards and Land Damage

The Council has decided the following:

• for three of the properties, the risk from rockfall is now considered to be tolerable meaning no further action is required;

• for three properties where the affected buildings have suffered extensive damage and the risk can be addressed by rebuilding elsewhere on the property, no further action is required;

• for three properties where uncertainty about whether the level of risk is tolerable remains and there are questions about the practicality and long-term effectiveness of options for protection, the owners were offered financial assistance to retreat from their properties;
• for seven properties where uncertainty about whether the level of risk is tolerable remains but practical and effective options for reducing the life risk to those properties to a tolerable level have been identified, the owners were offered financial assistance to protect their buildings.

Cost estimates suggest the package will require all of the $1.5 million set aside by Government.

Council took great care in making these decisions, balancing various considerations, including: allowing people to move forward; creating good long-term outcomes for the district; and providing timely, pragmatic solutions for addressing the life risk.

The decisions follow September meetings with the owners of properties facing intolerable life risk from rockfall and draw on the latest geotechnical assessments and new risk information across the district. All of this feedback and information was considered together, to come up with pragmatic solutions that balance all the issues.

The decision making process

To keep our decisions about the properties affected by elevated risk from land damage/natural hazards responsible, affordable and fair, Council considered what it wanted to achieve (our objectives) and who it would apply to (our intervention criteria) and how we’d be getting involved (our intervention options).

Our objectives were to:

• protect people at an unacceptable level or risk from harm and enable property owners and residents to move on
• get certainty for homeowners, residents, business owners and the community about what happens next as soon as we can
• ensure the community has greater resilience to future events

Our intervention criteria:

Our intervention criteria helped guide Councils work around natural hazards and land damage. If a property meets one or more criteria, Council considered intervention options for that property. There are three different types of intervention criteria:

• life safety risks: where people were placed in situations of unacceptable life risk from natural hazards; and
• land damage: where land was damaged to such an extent that it is no longer fit to be built on; or there is a high risk of further land damage; and
• wellbeing risk: there is no effective or practical options for remediation of damage or avoiding future damage within a reasonable timeframe.

• Tonkin and Taylor Report 2018
• Golder Geotech Report for 270-277 Esplanade
• Golder Geotech Report for 335 East Lane 
• Golder Geotech Report for 93 Waitane Road 
• Golder Geotech Report for 1800 & 1802 SH1 
• Golder Geotech Report for 2021 SH1
• Golder Geotech Report for 2023 SH1 
• Golder Geotech Report for 2025 SH1
• Golder Geotech Report for 2027 SH1 
• Golder Geotech Report for 2029 SH1 
• Spreadsheet of natural hazard related documents from October 2017 to November 2018 (released under LGOIMA 31 January 2019)
• Reports and minutes from July 2017 to November 2018 (released under LGOIMA 31 January 2019)
• Appendices July 2017 (released under LGOIMA 31 January 2019)
• Appendices October 2018 (released under LGOIMA 31 January 2019)
• Appendices October 2018 PX (released under LGOIMA 31 January 2019)
• Appendices November 2018 Council meeting 

Council staff and geotechnical engineers have been working to assess damage caused by the earthquake along Lyell Creek. This work involved a series of discussions with property owners to assess their individual situations and help them prepare for the future.

 As a result of the land damage, some of these properties may require additional building consent requirements for any rebuilds or future work. The Council will work through these processes as necessary with individual property owners.

 The Council has agreed to contribute half of the cost of work proposed by Environment Canterbury to repair the creek and cycleway along Lyell Creek. Planning for this work will get underway in the new year.

• Repair and rebuild advice for Lyell Creek landowners