Auckland flood works

The Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle events in January and February 2023 have had a devastating and long-lasting impact on many communities and thousands of individuals across Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau. The extreme rainfall, river flooding, wind damage and landslides have brought significant hardship, suffering and challenges for individuals and communities.

This proposal will enable some flood resilience works to occur in parts of Māngere (Te Ararata and Harania catchments) which were amongst the worst hit in Auckland. The proposal aims to speed up recovery by shortening the resource consent process so that work can get underway faster.

There are 376 properties in the Te Ararata and Harania catchments that are at risk of flooding again should another event occur. The project works aim to mitigate the flood risk to life and property in this area, and to increase resilience of infrastructure for the wider community.

The construction of flood risk mitigation and resilience works usually requires complex resource consents. Normally the process of granting these consents would take one year or more. In order to get the project works started in the next earthworks season of summer 2024/2025, we propose to speed up the consenting process.

The proposed Order in Council would reclassify the project works as controlled activities under the Resource Management Act (RMA), overriding certain rules in the Auckland Unitary Plan. A controlled activity resource consent also cannot be declined under the RMA, which gives Auckland Council certainty that the works will get consented.

The proposed Order in Council would also prevent appeals to the Environment Court against the consent decision. Appeals can take years to work through and would slow the project works down significantly.

It is proposed that once the controlled activity consents are granted, the Council can start the work immediately. This certainty allows Auckland Council to start planning the works now, so they can get started as soon as possible.

The proposed Order in Council would have a set of conditions and matters of control that act as safeguards to ensure that adverse environmental effects are avoided, remedied or mitigated. This will include things like sediment and erosion control plans and noise standards to make sure that the works aren't adversely affecting the environment and people.

To manage any perceived or actual conflicts of interest, the proposed Order in Council would require that an independent commissioner be the final decision maker. It is proposed that this person will hear from local landowners, communities, iwi and others before making their decision and imposing conditions.

The proposed Order in Council would only apply to the two catchments of Te Ararata and Harania Creeks in Māngere, South Auckland.

Only Auckland Council can use the proposed Order in Council to apply for consents. Any other land owner or developer would need to use the normal Auckland Unitary Plan process.

The proposed Order in Council would take effect from late October 2024 and expire on 1 October 2028. 

We consider this time to be sufficient for all the project works to be completed. However, the Ministry for the Environment will review the Order in Council in 12 months to ensure that four years is still an appropriate length of time for the Order.

We consider this proposal meets the purpose of the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act (SWERLA) as it will assist communities and councils to focus on planning, rebuilding, and recovery, including:

• the rebuilding of land, infrastructure, and other property of affected communities or of any affected persons 
• safety enhancements to, and improvements to the resilience of, the land and infrastructure 
• facilitating co-ordinated efforts and processes for short-term, medium-term, and long-term recovery 
• facilitating the restoration and improvement of the economic, social, and cultural well-being, and enhancing the resilience, of affected communities or of any affected persons 
• facilitating the restoration and resilience of the environment 
• providing economic recovery for the affected districts and regions. 

“Incorporation by reference” is a legal way of making technical, lengthy, or complex information part of our law by reference rather than in full, when it is impractical to include it directly. The Legislation Act 2019 (section 64) and the Standards and Accreditation Act 2015 (section 30) allow for material to be incorporated into secondary legislation by reference and set out requirements that need to be met. These include publicly notifying the intention to incorporate material by reference and inviting comments.

The Ministry proposes to incorporate various parts of technical documents into the proposed Auckland Council flood works Order in Council. This is to ensure appropriate environmental standards are met.

The Order would require the consent holder (Auckland Council) to comply with parts of relevant resource management plans, technical guidelines, standards and management plans. There would not be any changes to the parts of the documents incorporated into the Order. It is expected that the consent holder would consider the full contents of the documents in order to understand their obligations.

Click here to view more information about the documents proposed to be incorporated into this Order.

The parts of the documents proposed to be incorporated by reference into the Order are as follows:

• Auckland Unitary Plan Operative in Part (Chapter D Overlays)
• Auckland Unitary Plan Operative in Part (Chapter E12 Land disturbance – District and Rule E12.6.1 Accidental discovery protocol definition and rule)
• Auckland Unitary Plan Operative in Part (Appendix 7 Coastal marine area boundaries)
• National environmental standard for assessing and managing contaminants in soil to protect human health
• Users’ Guide; National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health
• Contaminated Land Management Guidelines No. 1: Reporting on Contaminated Sites in New Zealand
• Erosion and Sediment Control Guide for Land Disturbing Activities in the Auckland Region
• Climate Change Scenarios: Guideline document GD15
• Mahere ā-Rohe Whakahaere Kaupapa Koiora OrotāmōTāmaki Makaurau Auckland Regional Pest Management Plan 2020 - 2030
• Technical Guidelines for Disposal to Land Revision 3.1
• Good Practice Guide for Assessing and Managing Dust
• Indigenous terrestrial and wetland ecosystems of Auckland]
• German Industrial Standard DIN 4150-3:1999 Structural vibration - Part 3: Effects of vibration on structures
• New Zealand Standard Acoustics—Construction noise (NZS 6803:1999)

We invited feedback on this proposal. The closing date to provide this was 5pm, Friday 23 August.

We will provide this feedback to the Minister for the Environment, the Regulations Review Committee, and the review panel that considers this Order in Council under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023.

Get more information

We held a webinar on Thursday 15 August, so the public could learn more about the proposed Order.

View the presentation [PDF, 4.4 MB]

Provide your feedback

Please contact severeweather@mfe.govt.nz if you have any questions.