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DOC Reassures Coast Councillors On Flood Plan
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is reassuring West Coast councillors that a land transfer needed for major flood protection work will go ahead by November.
Westport’s $25 million flood protection plan has stalled while the West Coast Regional Council waits for land to be transferred over.
DOC and Land Information NZ (LINZ) came under fire for the delays during a council meeting on Tuesday.
Buller councillor Chris Coll raised the issue of Organs Island where the Buller River in flood overflows into the Orowaiti River.
The land is held by LINZ but must be to be transferred to the Conservation Department, before it can be vested in the Regional Council for flood protection purposes.
DOC Director Treaty Negotiations and Land Huia Forbes said they are committed to completing the transfer of the land with LINZ.
"This transfer is complex, involving a number of legally required steps such as stakeholder consultation, surveying, and financial transfers.
"We acknowledge the significance of this whenua in progressing the flood protection work, and both agencies are treating this as a priority," Forbes said on behalf of DOC and LINZ.
DOC anticipated the transfer would be completed by the end of November. During Tuesday's meeting, Council chief executive Darryl Lew said Organs Island had been a critical component of the Westport flood protection project when the Government granted $15 million towards it.
The responsibility now lay with DOC, and he had taken the matter up with DOC’s regional director, Mr Lew said.
“It's now getting on to two years where there’s been no action and they’re saying they’re overworked and can’t do it,” he told the meeting.
As part of the Resilient Westport project, the intention is to plant the land and build it up, making it a more effective buffer in times of flood.
The land had been leased by LINZ and cleared for farming and some temporary barriers were likely needed while the trees grew and sediment built up, Mr Lew said.
-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
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