A Gisborne district councillor wants a climate emergency to be declared for the region following severe weather events in Tairāwhiti.
Heavy rain caused flooding in Tokomaru Bay in June 2021. It is estimated about 75mm of rain fell in about 90 minutes. Photo: Supplied / LDR
Larry Foster made the challenge at an audit and risk committee meeting last week when a report was presented showing 17 councils around the country had already declared a climate emergency.
The list did not include Gisborne District Council which has experienced multiple severe flooding events over the past few years.
Foster indicated he was keen for the council to review its stance based on those events, fearing not doing so could hinder future help from the government.
"If we're seeking government funding to help with all the emergencies we've had over the last two months and we're not declaring a climate change emergency, is that going to hinder (us)?" he asked.
"A lot of other councils are prioritising obviously, and we're not part of that list. We've been hit harder than most other regions and we're not declaring it."
Mayor Rehette Stoltz responded by saying she was not opposed to declaring a state of emergency but felt declaring it as part of a group "didn't mean anything".
The council had taken a position of serious concern over climate change for a long time.
"Declaring a climate emergency at this stage is just something you make on paper.
"Why are we not just doing the mahi and getting it done, and getting the finance and plans behind that?"
Tairāwhiti has been notoriously prone to heavy flooding, with the most recent incident being a heavy rain event in late March which washed out the state highway bridge in Tokomaru Bay and destroyed homes in the region.
Tairāwhiti was still recovering from a flooding event in June 2021 where it is estimated about 75mm of rain fell in about 90 minutes in Tokomaru Bay.
June 2018 rain events also ruined homes in Tolaga Bay.
Talking to Local Democracy Reporting after the meeting, Foster confirmed he was keen for the council to issue a state of emergency.
Gisborne councillor Larry Foster is worried that not declaring a climate emergency could interfere with getting funding for future climate-related disasters in the region. Photo: Supplied
"The reason I raised it is I think the perception of us not having a climate emergency in the Government's eyes might interfere with funding for the future," he reiterated.
"Obviously we've had huge effects this year from climate change."
The 17 councils that issued a state of emergency spanned from Whangārei to Dunedin, and made the call to do so across a variety of dates between May 2019 and February 2020.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air