Latest news with #communityfacilities
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Thousands of Otago residents exposed to flooding, liquefaction, new report finds
Lateral spreading happens when liquefaction stretches and tears the ground. This example happened during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Photo: Sarah Bastin A new report has found thousands of people and buildings, including homes, are potentially exposed to flooding and liquefaction in Otago. The Otago Regional Council report used existing data to map the natural hazard exposure risks for people, buildings and critical services. It is the first comprehensive assessment for the entire region. The report found the greatest exposure was from river and lake flooding and liquefaction hazards. "Totals of greater than 30,000 people and buildings, including >10,000 dwellings, within the Otago region are located in areas identified as potentially subject to each of these hazards," the report said. Most of that exposure was located in and near Dunedin, with 39 of the 117 community areas being classed as having a 'high exposure' - which meant an area that had a high number of people or buildings within a mapped hazard area, not that an event was imminent. This included the floodplains that were in the council's and Lower Taieri flood protection schemes, but people and buildings within those areas were considered to be 'potentially exposed'. The report assessed 90 critical community facilities across the region - important buildings in a post-disaster response including hospitals, fire and police stations, or emergency operation centres. Of those, 23 were at risk of flooding and 35 were exposed to liquefaction across the region. Queenstown, Wānaka and Dunedin all had relatively high exposures to hazards involving slope stability including landslides and alluvial fans. There were about 500 people and 1100 buildings exposed to coastal hazards including tsunamis and storm surges, mostly around Dunedin and Clutha. The council's natural hazards manager, Dr Jean-Luc Payan, said the data would help to inform future planning to reduce risk. It would also show where they should prioritise future resilience and hazard investigations, as well as aid emergency management. "This work is not about predicting when an event might happen," he said. "It's about identifying where exposure exists so we can make smarter decisions about resilience, planning and investment." The council's senior natural hazards analyst, Tim van Woerden, said it was a living dataset that would continue to be refined as more detailed information was sourced. "These terms may sound technical or worrying, but it's important to remember this analysis is about where we focus effort to reduce exposure - not about predicting events or sounding alarms," he said. The council's natural hazards prioritisation programme is due to begin in the upcoming financial year.
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Wellington Airport plans to buy Lyall Bay property to upgrade community facilities
A render of the Huetepara Park area which is planned for Lyall Bay in Wellington. Photo: Supplied Wellington Airport is planning to buy four pieces of beachfront property with the aim of upgrading community facilities and driving up foot traffic to Lyall Bay. The airport had a property portfolio outside of its terminal and runways which included its retail park and Lyall Bay junction which houses the popular bakery Puku Pies. Wellington City Council has announced plans to sell four pieces of land along Lyall Bay Parade to Wellington Airport. In return the airport will build a new community park named Huetepara Park and a surf hub which will include public toilets, changing rooms, showers, a boardwalk, nature play areas, accessible ramps, picnic tables and a raised viewing platform. A map showing the area of the planned Huetepara Park development. Photo: Supplied Wellington Airport commercial general manager Richard Dalby told RNZ that there were areas of the bay, particularly at its eastern end, which needed investment. Dalby said the commercial benefits to the airport of the changes would be giving people more reasons to come to Lyall Bay. "We think that that's going to help drive some economic activity in the area and you know obviously our investments will benefit from that as well as the local community and other businesses." He hoped that the work would be done in a year's time dependent on their consent process. The Huetepara Park area will be architecturally designed and have capacity for hospitality, recreational and retail offerings. Eastern ward city councillors Teri O'Neill, Tim Brown and Sarah Free have thrown their support behind the project. A render of the surfer's hub at Huetepara Park which is planned for Lyall Bay in Wellington. Photo: Supplied Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Consultation on plans for 1,500 new homes in Shropshire
People are being consulted over plans to build a new development with 1,500 houses in Homes said the plans for Telford would include a new primary school, open spaces and investment to support community proposed housing estate would be built to the north of Bratton and company said it was seeking opinions from the public on a number of issues, including the type of houses that should be built. The housebuilder said it is preparing an outline planning application which would meet the requirements of Telford and Wrekin Council's Local added that it was considering a mix of homes, including family homes, homes suitable for first-time buyers, and accessible properties for those looking to the open spaces, Bloor Homes is proposing new sports pitches, courts and a pavilion or clubhouse facility. It is seeking feedback on the plans, giving people until 13 June to respond.A drop-in session has also been arranged at Admaston House Community Centre on Wellington Road in Telford on Thursday, between 14:00 and 18:45 BST. Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
British tennis stars call on U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer for investment in grassroots facilities
Leading British tennis players, including the men's world No. 5 Jack Draper and women's world No. 38 Katie Boulter, have written to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer asking for greater investment in the country's tennis and sporting facilities. In a letter signed by Draper, Boulter, Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid, and Lucy Shuker (the country's top-ranked players in men's and women's singles, and men's and women's wheelchair singles and doubles), the players wrote that 'too many places around the country still do not have access to high quality community sports facilities.' Advertisement The players acknowledged that the U.K. government has been investing in grassroots tennis alongside the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) over the last few years, and urged Starmer to continue to do so. The Parks Tennis Project, a joint initiative between the government, the LTA and the LTA Tennis Foundation — has seen 3,000 public tennis courts renovated across Britain. Draper and his colleagues wrote in the letter that: 'A new national network of community accessible covered tennis, padel and multi-sport hubs would support year-round play, and grow participation, particularly among underserved communities and disabled people. Delivering this network in partnership with the LTA would bring the benefits of sport to so many more people across the country.' Important to the players is finding a way to overcome the British weather. Rain means more of a need for indoor courts, but those are more expensive to build and then access than open-air courts. The letter suggests 'new light-weight, all-weather canopy structures, that allow courts to be covered easily, without the expense of a full indoor centre being built.' The players believe that courts like these 'would also tackle the chronic lack of covered tennis courts in Britain compared to the rest of Europe.' 'Germany operates almost three times as many facilities, while France has more than five times our number,' the letter says. 'With an average of 150 days rain every year in Britain, bad weather and dark winters limits access and reduces participation.' The LTA in 2019 committed to building 'hundreds' of new indoor tennis courts over the following ten years. In its 2023 finance and governance report, it said it had awarded '£8.9m … across 87 projects to help build or improve indoor tennis courts, padel courts, floodlights and outdoor courts.' Advertisement Overall, tennis participation is on the up in the U.K., with an International Tennis Federation (ITF) report last year showing that Britain had the highest percentage of its population playing tennis of any of the 199 nations surveyed. Over the five-year period from 2019-2023, LTA data showed adult annual participation (adults playing at least once a year) in Britain grew by 44 percent, to around 5.6 million people, 10 percent of the U.K. adult population at the time. Children's annual participation grew to 3.6 million — around 40 percent of the population — over the same period.
