Retreating from the red zone: Government to part-fund Matatā buyout

Tuesday, 16 July 2019

In 2019, Matatā residents were still vowing to fight managed retreat. Video first published July 2019.

The Government has agreed to part-fund a buyout of Matatā residents stuck in red-zone limbo.

While the money is good news for residents who just want out, many are vowing to fight to stay.

Thirty-four property owners in the tiny Bay of Plenty beachside settlement of Matatā have been unable to build, borrow or sell, after their homes and sections were red-zoned as a high natural-hazard risk.

In May 2005, a debris flow slammed part of Matatā, dumping silt, boulders and tree trunks and shunting some houses off their foundations.

In May 2005, a debris flow surged down the area's Awatarariki Stream, damaging houses and depositing 300,000 cubic metres of silt, logs and boulders. Home-owners were allowed to build back, on the understanding Whakatane District Council would install debris barriers.

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The same area in 2019. Whakatane District Council allowed residents to build back, but now says their homes are too dangerous to live in.

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Greg Fahey lives in a shipping container in Matatā with his wife Pauline, who suffers from dementia. They had building consent to erect a house, but are now unable to build.

* Matatā existing use rights cull one step closer after Bay of Plenty Regional Council decision**

However, in 2012, the council decided engineering options would not work. As the risk to life from a future debris flow was then deemed 'intolerable', in 2016 the council began a 'voluntary retreat', offering to buy residents out.

The shipping container where Gregory and Pauline Fahey are forced to live.

The buyout was contingent on the Government and Bay of Plenty Regional Council each paying $5 million towards the $15m estimated cost. That funding has now been confirmed.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta said a buyout was 'a just and enduring solution'.

Map showing Matatā debris flow danger zone.

'A voluntary managed retreat from the area is believed to be the best option. This will enable residents to get on with their lives and end the uncertainty which has now prevailed for 14 years.'

However, a parallel district and regional council plan change process threatens to remove the residents' rights to live on their land, in what would be the first use of the Resource Management Act to snuff out existing land use rights, without compensation. That process has been put on hold until later this year.

Matatā resident Rick Whalley, who heads the Awatarariki Residents Incorporated group, said offering buyouts when the alternative was eviction without compensation, was like holding a gun to your head.

'What you're saying is: take the money, or you'll get nothing.'

The group plans to challenge the legality of the process.

'It's not like they are saying 'Do you want a cup of tea or a cup of coffee?' This involves our homes, our whole families, for the rest of our lives.'

Gregory Fahey lives in a shipping container with his wife Pauline, who has early-stage dementia. They got consent in 2005 for a two-storey home, but are no longer allowed to build on their land. Fahey said before the announcement that he would not accept any buyout offer.

'They wouldn't give me what my property is worth. That's a million dollar property as far as I'm concerned, because it's for my children.

'I won't be leaving. I've told the council we want nothing from them. We just want to be left alone.'

Councils around the country grappling with the growing threats of coastal erosion and sea level rise are watching Matatā as a precedent for how managed retreat could work elsewhere.

Whakatane District Council strategic projects manager Jeff Farrell previously said residents would be made offers based on what the value of their property would be if the debris flow had never happened. However, when the same process was undertaken in 2016, some residents were offered less than they paid for their homes and sections.

Farrell hoped the managed retreat process, including any valuation disputes, would be completed before the plan change hearings later this year.

TIMELINE

May 2005: A rain-fuelled debris flow in the Awatarariki Stream deposited 300,000 cubic metres of silt, logs and boulders on to part of Matatā. No-one died, but some houses were shunted off their foundations and others were damaged beyond repair.

2006: Whakatane District Council asked Building and Housing if they could prevent homeowners returning by deeming their homes 'dangerous buildings'. The agency said no.

2006-2012: The council investigated debris barriers. Six houses were built back in the debris flow zone, on the understanding the council would reduce the risk.

2012: Engineered barriers rejected as too costly or not feasible.

December 2016: 34 property owners given 'voluntary' buyout offers, but were told the regional council could evict them, without compensation, if the voluntary retreat failed. 21 owners expressed interest, two declined and 11 didn't respond.

2017: District and Regional Plan changes initiated to rezone the affected properties from residential to coastal reserve, preventing further building, and to extinguish existing use rights. Both changes are currently on hold to progress buyout option

July 2019: Government and regional council agree to each fund $5m of the $15m expected buyout cost.