Letter to Nelson City Council regarding library proposal
On 23 August 2021 LCANZI wrote to the Nelson City Council on behalf of Zero Carbon Nelson Tasman expressing concerns about the legality of the Council’s recent decision to develop a new Library on a site near the Maitai River.
The Council recognises the existing flooding risk to this area, and that this risk will increase due to climate change induced sea level rise and more extreme rainfall. Despite this, the Library decision has been made without undertaking any assessment or consultation in relation to the relative costs and benefits of different adaptation options for the Maitai flood plain. The Council appears to have assumed that increased protection measures will be taken over time, without considering whether managed retreat from this area would be in the long term interests of ratepayers.
Zero Carbon Nelson Tasman believes that making the Library decision separately from determining a local adaptation plan is problematic because:
the Library development decision could be seen as predetermining the adaptation strategies by excluding managed retreat from this area;
at a minimum, the Library development decision will be a finger on the scales against managed retreat even though this might be the option that would minimise the long term costs for ratepayers; and
if managed retreat is ultimately the favoured option, then ratepayer expenditure on the Library development in this location may need to be written off.
Accordingly, Zero Carbon Nelson Tasman considers that the Council’s decision-making in relation to the Library development may have breached both the Local Government Act 2002 and the Council’s commitments under its Declaration of a Climate Emergency dated 16 May 2019.
At this stage, Zero Carbon Nelson Tasman has sought an opportunity to engage with the Council as to the intended timelines for the Library development and determining a climate change adaptation plan for the precinct. So long as the Library development decision remains reversible in practical and legal terms, this may avoid the need to challenge the decision-making in Court.
LCANZI co-founder James Every-Palmer QC said “Adaptation decisions in relation to the Maitai floodplain will be extremely difficult issues for the Nelson community to address. However, they cannot be side-lined from the decision to develop the Library in this area. This is an important test case to highlight that continued investment in areas that are vulnerable to climate change induced sea level rise and river flooding may not be the best option for ratepayers in the long term.”