Some areas of Waihī Beach are particularly low lying, especially Marine Ave/ Wallnutt Ave catchment. In these places we're undertaking extensive modelling to investigate the best solutions for stormwater management.
We’ve agreed with the community that the stormwater infrastructure within this catchment will only prevent flooding for the more frequent storm events. This means, these properties will still flood during heavy rainfall such as was experienced in May 2023.
To assist the community with being more resilient in these events, we will support homeowners by removing any processing costs associated with Building and Resource Consents to raise finished floor levels.
We also have provisions in the Operative District Plan that provide for the encroachment of a dwelling into the daylighting plane when raising the finished floor level of a dwelling in a floodable area. Meaning that if you're raising your house in an area that could flood, it can go a little bit higher than usually permitted.
If you would like to know more about flood levels in Waihī Beach or whether your property will qualify for the exemptions, please contact our Customer Services team on 0800 926 732 or email info@westernbay.govt.nz.
