Napier flood protection increased through council collaboration

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Napier City Council have been working hard over the past 18 months to improve flood protection in urban Napier.

Regional Councillor Neil Kirton says the work has been progressing well following the flood in November 2020.

“Protecting our community is incredibly important to both Napier City and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. We’ve teamed up to be able to provide the best flood protection network we can,” says Mr Kirton.

“We’ve started reviewing how we operate Napier urban water ways which is a big piece of work from decades of shared operations in the scheme. This review will be finished mid-year, and a proposal will go to both councils about how we manage the waterways going forward.”

“We’re also going to be working on our control system for the pump stations to give us better data to be able to respond accurately to more intense rain events happening due to climate change.”

Work completed in the last 12 months includes upgrades to control gates, assessment and replacement of pumps, control gear at pump stations where required, and a new joint consent for stormwater discharge.

The Regional Council has earmarked an additional $1 million for resilience improvements to the waterway network for the financial year 2022/23.

Regional Councillor Hinewai Ormsby says a new consent for the waterways looks ahead for future generations.

“The new consent for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Napier City Council to manage Napier urban waterways will improve the water quality in the area to make sure our tamariki have a cleaner and safer estuary.”

Regional Councillor Martin Williams says collaboration between the councils has been key to achieve this progress and will continue with community input.

“Both Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council staff and councillors have been working together on this project for the last 18 months, and we are satisfied with what we’ve achieved so far and plan for further work and improvements ahead.”

13 May 2022

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