Mark Mitchell. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
The government is working on a buyout blueprint so homeowners hit by extreme weather know where they stand, the emergency management minister says.
About a dozen Dunedin homes have been red-stickered since last week's storms. The region was under a state of emergency for several days, with heavy rain causing flooding, massive slips and road closures.
Low-lying south Dunedin was among the worst-hit areas. Mayor Jules Radich said the prospect of a property buyout scheme was discussed with the previous government about a year ago as part of a managed retreat plan - but the new government did not support that idea.
The South Dunedin Future initiative, run by the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council, had asked for money for a progressive buy-out of at-risk properties. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday said he was unaware of the plan, despite his coalition rejecting it earlier this year.
Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell said that was in a completely different context, and the government would do what it could to support residents affected by the latest wild weather.
"First of all, there's been some assistance put out through [Ministry for Primary Industries], through [Minister for Agriculture] Todd McClay, in terms of getting some aid to farmers, because they have been hit quite hard, obviously, especially with lambs at foot. So the timing has been less than ideal for them," he told Checkpoint on Monday afternoon.
"And of course, there's always [Ministry of Social Development] support that's triggered immediately for people that need any of that sort of support and through [Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment] housing to meet any direct housing needs."
Govt working on buyout scheme for homeowners affected by weather - Mitchell
Mitchell said he was yet to have any discussions with Cabinet or Dunedin City Council about potential buyouts. He said the council would do appraisals "and then decide what the best steps are to move forward, and I'm sure that they'll come and have a conversation with us then".
"Of course we're going to do everything that we can and should do to support the council and the people of Dunedin. That is the right thing to do, but we haven't reached the stage yet… the council will now be going through a process of evaluating whether or not mitigation work can be done, whether those people can return to their homes or whether or not we have to look at a categorisation and buyout scheme."
In the case of the Auckland floods of 2023, more than $770 million was spent buying out more than 700 properties where there was "an intolerable risk to life" and it was not possible to reduce that risk. A similar buyout scheme was used in Hawke's Bay following Cyclone Gabrielle. In both cases, the government covered half the buyout costs.
But arrangements with each council - several, in the case of Hawke's Bay - had to be developed anew. Mitchell said he was currently working on legislation which could be used as a template for future disasters, to streamline the process.
"As you've highlighted, obviously with the flooding events and in Auckland and with Cyclone Gabrielle, then that is the approach that was taken - a partnership between central and local government. Those decisions are not mine to take on my own - those are something that will go to Cabinet. But obviously, that's the approach that's been taken up till now…
"Instead of us continuing to come up with these sort of bespoke solutions, let's see if we can standardise things. That's a big part of the work that we're doing at the moment with [Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet] and [National Emergency Management Agency] in terms of how we manage our risk as a country.
"We think it's important to try and get as standardised as possible throughout the whole emergency management system, because although every event is different and every event will need a tailored solution in some respects, there's many things that we should be doing that that could be standardised and makes us more effective as a country in terms of dealing with our risk."
A red sticker at the boundary of a Dunedin property on 7 October after massive downpours caused floods, landslides and road closures. Photo: RNZ / Charlotte Cook
New legislation was expected by the middle of next year, he said. In the meantime, it was up to councils to figure out what they needed.
"And look, I have to acknowledge the councils. They've done a very good job and the categorisation of buyouts is going very well right across all of the regions that were impacted.
"I would like to see most of the categorisation of buyouts starting to be completed by the end of this year. There's always going to be the really tricky difficult complex ones at the tail end, but fundamentally most of them, the majority of them, will be closed out by the end of this year."