Appendix: The council actions we looked at

How well four councils are responding to a changing climate.

We drew on evidence from a selection of council climate-related activities with a particular focus on those detailed in this Appendix. We selected activities based on the:

  • amount of council involvement;
  • extent to which the activity had progressed;
  • extent to which climate change was the reason for the initiative; and
  • relevance to themes of interest to the audit (for example, collaboration).

Some actions were at an early stage of implementation so we could not always assess their success or elements within them (such as the outcome of community input). We also looked at other activities that we came across in our fieldwork that helped to show how well each council has identified, monitored, or managed climate change actions.

Environment Canterbury

Climate resilience and flood protection

Environment Canterbury's climate resilience and flood protection programmes were part of its Climate Change and Community Resilience activity portfolio. The programmes include a range of flood protection projects to build, maintain, or replace infrastructure that directly reduces the risk of river flooding.

Canterbury regional climate change risk assessment

Environment Canterbury led work within the Canterbury Mayoral Forum on preparing a Canterbury climate change risk assessment. The risk assessment was intended to provide a shared understanding and awareness of climate change risks across the region.

Climate change action planning

Climate change action planning is another activity in Environment Canterbury's Climate Change and Community Resilience portfolio. We accept that, given that climate-related impacts can be uncertain, long term, and complex, action planning is a climate-related action in its own right.

Environment Canterbury's work on action planning is in two workstreams. One is the Canterbury Climate Partnership Plan (CCP Plan). The CCP Plan aims to detail how Canterbury councils will form partnerships on climate actions to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change on Canterbury's communities and ecosystems. The CCP Plan is carried out in collaboration with the 10 other councils in the Canterbury Mayoral Forum (all 11 Canterbury councils are therefore involved). The Mayoral Forum provides overall direction, although Environment Canterbury continues to lead the work.

The other workstream is Environment Canterbury's Climate Action Plan. That workstream is intended to guide how Environment Canterbury will act to reduce emissions and increase community resilience to climate change risks.

Christchurch City Council

Coastal Hazard Adaptation Planning

Christchurch City Council has initiated a Coastal Hazard Adaptation Planning (CHAP) programme for low-lying communities at risk of coastal hazards that will be exacerbated by climate change. The CHAP programme uses the Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning approach, based on guidance from the Ministry for the Environment. Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning is an iterative process that helps communities understand what is happening with climate change, what it is that communities value, options to address change, and how to implement a strategy and review its effectiveness. Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning is intended to account for the relative uncertainty about when coastal hazards reach a critical point.

Christchurch City Council is piloting the CHAP programme in the Whakaraupō (Lyttelton Harbour) and Koukourārata (Port Levy) areas.

The CHAP programme includes the development of an interactive online risk mapping tool.

Cycleways

Christchurch City Council is constructing a network of 13 Major Cycle Routes (MCRs) connecting the outer areas of town to the central business district. The Council sees the cycleways programme as a key action for responding to climate change. It is expected to reduce vehicle emissions by encouraging other modes of transport.

Of the 13 MCRS, we looked primarily at the Quarryman's Trail MCR. This MCR had the highest post-construction approval rating for the greenway section of four MCRs and, being a more recent project, we expected it to benefit from lessons that the Council had learned over the previous decade. The Quarryman's Trail MCR received national recognition for construction quality in the New Zealand Transport Agency On the Go Awards for outstanding walking and cycling projects.

Nelson City Council

Te Tauihu Capability Initiative

Through the Te Tauihu Capability Initiative, Nelson City Council aims to support Te Tauihu (top of the South Island) iwi to measure and understand their operational carbon footprint. The project started with council staff sharing internal knowledge with Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō (Ngāti Apa) so that the iwi could produce its own carbon footprint inventory. The initiative is intended to be a "pay it forward" arrangement. The knowledge and insights gained from the training provided by the Council is intended to be shared with other Te Tauihu iwi, facilitated by staff from Ngāti Apa and the Council.

Community Carbon Insight Project

The Community Carbon Insight Project was a Nelson City Council collaboration with multiple organisations to measure and provide an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions for the Nelson-Tasman region. Using local emissions data and a tool from Palmerston North City Council, a city carbon model was developed to model emissions out to 2050 and assess the effects of emission reduction policies. The project received support from private firms, which provided carbon accountancy and assurance services. Statistics New Zealand, the Ministry for the Environment, and Port Nelson also provided support.

Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning

Like Christchurch City Council, Nelson City Council has also initiated coastal adaptation planning using the Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning process.

Whanganui District Council

Castlecliff Coastal Action Plan

Whanganui District Council is preparing a Coastal Action Plan to make Whanganui's coast more resilient to natural processes, including those affected by climate change. Initial stages of the Coastal Action Plan incorporate the beach bordering the Castlecliff suburb and adjoining work to reinstate and repair the North Mole. The beach has several issues, including wind-blown sand and dune accretion, which might be exacerbated by climate change.

The Council is supporting a community-led consultation process on the beach's issues and the way forward. Ngā Ringaringa Waewae – a community and hapū collective – is leading this consultation.

Stormwater network upgrade

In 2017, Whanganui District Council started a 30-year Stormwater Upgrade programme to upgrade Whanganui's stormwater network. The network's current entanglement creates contamination risk and exacerbates flood risks. Works are being progressed in areas that are prone to flooding in extreme weather events.

The Stormwater Upgrade includes the Healthy Streams Initiative, where the Council supports the community to lead work on keeping waterways – including creeks, wetlands, and bowls – clean and tidy.