Following the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle, the Government announced a system of land categorisations to deal with the risks from future severe weather events on affected properties. Provisional maps were developed showing which category affected properties in our region may fall under.
Property assessments have been carried out to confirm the categorisation of properties. Each property is unique and influenced by a range of different factors. All of the properties given a provisional 2A categorisation have now been moved out of the FOSAL framework or have been confirmed as Category 2C, 2P or 3.
The map shows the land categories and number of affected properties:
Category 3 is the highest risk government classification.
A high risk property is not safe to live in because of the unacceptable risk of future flooding or landslide and threat to life. Homes in these areas should not be rebuilt on their current sites.
Managed Risk – Community or property-level interventions will manage future severe weather event risk. This could include the raising of nearby stop banks, improving drainage or raising the property. Category 2 is split into 2P and 2C.
Property owners with a residential dwelling on a property categorised as 2P are eligible for funding. There are 2 funding streams available.
December 24 - Policy framework in place for future use of Category 3 land once purchased by Council.
October 24 - demolition starts of Category 3 properties purchased by Council. First run of monthly funding payments to Category 2P property owners engaged on a grant payment agreement with Council.
July 24 - Buyouts of Category 3 homes are 50% complete. New 2P mitigation policy accepted by Council. Funding available for mitigations on all 2P categorised properties.
May 24 - assessment of properties completed. No more properties remain in 2A. Categorisations may change as new information is received. Council continues to settle on category 3 properties.
April 24 - applications for funding opened. The fund offered financial support to Category 2P property owners to lift or relocate the dwelling on their property.
March 24 - assessment of category 2A properties nearly completed. The majority of property owners remaining in the FOSAL framework should have received a letter confirming the provisional classification of their property. Providing property owners haven’t objected to the provisional classification, they will receive a confirmation letter to confirm their categorisation. The first category 3 house was purchased by Council
December 23 - good progress made on assessments, 253 properties removed from the FOSAL framework with others receiving a provisional 2P or 2C categorisation. Those property owners received a letter by January. Assessments of the 36 2A properties is a priority.
November 23 - continue to assess Category 2 properties. Letter sent to property owners once provisional categories refined - this meant either moving to 2P or 2C or Category 3, or if the property was removed from the FOSAL framework.
October 23 - following property assessments, over 1000 category 2A properties were removed from the FOSAL framework. A second letter sent to all category 2 property owners, to advise that they had either been removed or remained in category 2A.
June 23 - approx 1880 preliminary initial assessment letters sent to category 2 and 3 property owners.
Have questions or want to learn more about a project, contact us below:
| Phone | 0800 653 800 (24 hours) |
|---|---|
| service@gdc.govt.nz | |
| Website | www.gdc.govt.nz |
| In writing | 15 Fitzherbert Street |
