Council to discuss local effects of climate change

Sandra Hazlehurst

The latest findings on the predicted effects of climate change will be discussed by Hastings District councillors at a meeting tomorrow..

The council's district development committee will consider a staff report prepared following the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Working Group I and II Fifth Assessment Reports, with particular reference to how climate change may affect the Hastings District.

Committee chairwoman Sandra Hazlehurst said the report was a strong reminder of the need to take action on climate change.

"It is now clear that even with our best efforts globally, mitigation alone will not be enough. Hastings District Council has been focused on climate change for a number of years and has been proactive in identifying the challenges," she said.

"Council has been introducing mitigation measures, including a more compact, high amenity urban form, walking and cycleways, and energy and resource conservation programmes, for some time. It has also been planning for and introducing adaptation measures, and this report reinforces the importance of these."

Climate change impacts were discussed in the council's 2012 long term plan which guides future development in the district.

"The latest report does not significantly alter the local impact projections that were included in a report commissioned by the council from Hawke's Bay based scientist Dr Gavin Kenny in 2011," Ms Hazlehurst said.

"However Council has noted that the Ministry for the Environment may now need to revise their sea level rise guidelines upwards."

She said the council was currently working on a cohesive approach to climate change adaptation which looks at how the district, both urban and rural, might respond to changes over time.

"In the meantime, we continue to work with the Regional Council on hazard scenario mapping, and our water strategy work includes an analysis of the systems vulnerability and resilience to climate change. The hazard work in particular is of importance as we look at erosion and inundation along our coastline and whether future development should be allowed close to the coast," she said.

Hastings District had recently become more active on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's management of fresh water resources in the region, she said.

"Water storage, together with efficient use and management is absolutely vital to the future of the primary production sector which impacts greatly on the future prosperity of the whole region. The Climate Changes Fifth Assessment reports serve to reinforce the need to continue with and possibly even accelerate our mitigation and adaptation measures in the face of the predicted changes and I am pleased that this Council has included those implications within a number of its current work streams."