Review into Rotorua floods to be made public next month

Judith Stanway and Te Ururoa Flavell are part of the independent panel reviewing what happened and what contributed to flooding in Ngongotahā. Photo / File

Findings from a review into the April 29 weather event that caused serious flooding within the Ngongotahā catchment are expected to be made public on December 11.

After the flood Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council co-commissioned an independent review of the flooding and the circumstances around it.

An advisory panel, led by Judith Stanway and including Te Ururoa Flavell, Rob van Voorthuysen and Kyle Christensen, met with members of the community affected by the floods.

When the review was announced, Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said it was important to Rotorua Lakes Council to learn from the events of April 29.

"It's important we understand what happened and what contributed to that so we can improve our ability to deal with adverse events and minimise the impact on our residents," Chadwick said.

The focus of the review panel was Ngongotahā, but learnings would be applied across the district.

As part of the review, the panel considered regional and district planning matters, engineering options, stormwater catchment management, future land use and subdivision development considerations and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge).

It is expected the review report will be presented to Rotorua Lakes Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council on December 10 and it is expected to be released publicly the day after.