Te Kāuru flood protection plan ready for public consultation

Public engagement is to go ahead on key elements of the proposed Te Kāuru Upper Ruamāhanga Floodplain Management Plan following its endorsement yesterday by the Te Kāuru Upper Ruamāhanga Floodplain Management Plan Subcommittee.

Engagement will run between 23 February and 5 March and focus on two sections of the proposed plan: Volume 1, which addresses the rationale for investment in flood protection - and which has been updated since previous engagement; and Volume 3, which outlines the proposed management of the Waipoua River through the Masterton urban area and is being presented for community comment for the first time.

Volume 2 of the full plan, which looks at the different location specific flood management options to be delivered across the rural areas of the Te Kāuru catchment, was the subject of public engagement late last year. 

All volumes will be brought together in a single plan for consultation in the coming months.

In developing its proposals for the Masterton urban area the project team has been mindful of potential plan costs and the importance of affordability for the community, consistent with meeting the goal of providing effective flood protection.

As a result, they are being presented as a staged programme of initiatives, each of which will be refined and fully costed to ensure the initiatives are appropriate both in nature and cost. The first stage includes gathering more data, considering detailed alignments for potential stopbank improvements in consultation with the community. Stage 1 is forecast to cost $350,00.

Between years 2 and 5 the high risk Oxford St area will be analysed and the design and construction of flood management measures such as, stopbanks and improved channel capacity will be addressed. Provisional investment for this stage is currently estimated at around $8 million.

The cost estimates and timeframes are indicative only. They will be reassessed at the end of each stage and will be balanced with other council priorities.