Majority backs going with the flow

Otago Daily Times

21-07-2025

A future where South Dunedin is dotted with waterways and wetlands has been backed by residents as the best hope to address climate change.
South Dunedin Future programme manager Jonathan Rowe, in a report to Otago regional and Dunedin city councillors, said feedback from more than 1200 individuals and organisations found nearly 60% supported an estimated $2.8 billion proposal to create "space for water" in the low-lying suburb by 2100.
On the other hand, 73% of respondents said the status quo was taking South Dunedin in the "wrong direction", Mr Rowe said.
The least popular option the South Dunedin Future team presented to the community in consultation from March through May was to "let water in" and plan a large-scale managed retreat from the area, estimated to cost $5b.
"Two prominent themes emerged in the feedback across all 'futures', including that council should build more infrastructure in the short term, to reduce present-day flood risk, and that stakeholders wanted more information about any potential managed retreat process, including in regard to location, timing, and policy and process for property buyouts," he said.
Mr Rowe's team not only gauged public interest in the seven different multibillion-dollar options South Dunedin Future created, they also tried to understand people's views on flooding and who should contribute financially to South Dunedin's future.
The South Dunedin Future team tried to understand at what point flooding would make the suburb "unliveable", Mr Rowe said.
The team found 83% of respondents thought that threshold would be crossed if water entered their homes.
"Most respondents said that flood water ponding on their lawn, local sports fields and in public carparking areas would never make South Dunedin unliveable — suggesting increased tolerance of 'nuisance' flooding, but clear intolerance of flooding entering homes."
When the public was asked who should help pay for the work required to prepare the suburb for the future, most respondents said central government (24%) and local government (22%).
However, property developers (15%), and Dunedin residents and businesses (13%) were also picked to pay to help transform the neighbourhood, he said.
Consultation found that while many respondents were open to contributing through rates to some degree, support for rates funding was "higher when costs are shared more broadly".
After both councils considered his report this month, a shortlist of three options would be presented to councils early next year, Mr Rowe said.
South Dunedin Community Network chairman Mike Hammond said the findings Mr Rowe was presenting were similar to the feedback the network received from attendees at the last South Dunedin street festival.
The option to add wetlands and waterways to the suburb would likely not please everyone "but almost 60% is a reasonable number overall".
"South D should be a place residents from other suburbs want to visit and having a long-term vision that includes making South D safe and resilient to future water events sounds like a positive solution."
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