A Northland environmental campaigner says plans for a coastal subdivision south of Whangarei should be shelved in the light of the latest report on climate change.
The Whangarei District Council has approved a 350-unit housing development behind the sand dunes at Ruakaka.
A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says it is not enough for the Government to leave it to local authorities to prepare for the events that will be caused by global warming.
An opponent of the subdivision, Margaret Hicks, says the report vindicates her concerns that the subdivision will some day be underwater.
"If you upgraded your predicted sea level from a half a metre to perhaps .8," she says, "and then you have that storm surge elevating it, plus low pressure, that will definitely overwhelm the dunes."
Ms Hicks says that if the council continues to ignore climate change reports and the subdivision is inundated, the Earthquake Commisson is likely to claw back from the council any compensation it has to pay.