The why

The decisions we make today shape our future. In the wake of extreme weather disasters in New Zealand, there is an understanding that we must take bold and deliberate steps to change the way we plan and fund investment in infrastructure. We need infrastructure that serves our current economy but more importantly secures community resilience and our future wellbeing.

Resilient communities understand the risks they could face - natural and human made - and have strategies in place to manage them.

Infrastructure often plays a critical role in protecting communities from risks, but needs to be accompanied by efforts to accommodate, minimise or avoid vulnerabilities.

Our council is responsible for flood management and land drainage schemes. We also work alongside communities, stakeholders and partners to help them understand and manage their risks, so they’re prepared for the unexpected.

Through long term thinking and planning, we’ll need to consider whether and where communities can evolve and grow, factoring in the changing environment. In turn, this will provide more certainty for investment and new sustainable economic opportunities. Changes in resource management, spatial planning and climate adaptation supports this type of holistic approach.

Through regional spatial planning, we’ll also have a role to play in ensuring other community infrastructure is built in the right places out to 2050 and beyond. That’s everything from roads to water systems, to electricity networks - the infrastructure that provides critical services for resilient, thriving and growing communities.