Who Carries the Can for Bailing-out Flooded Napier Homes?

Stuff today reported on a stoush between Napier City Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council. Hawke’s Bay disagrees with Napier’s decision to mark a potentially flood-prone parcel of land as suitable for developing 660 homes upon.

Commenting on this, Taxpayers' Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said:

“While Hawke’s Bay ratepayers still carry the can in the event of a natural disaster, it’s natural for the regional council to be a tad gun-shy about development. That then begs the question, why are ratepayers carrying the risk?”

“Private insurance exists for a reason. It’s insurance firms’ entire purpose to work out what risks are financially sensible. Councils second-guessing this simply drives up costs.”

“If we’re wanting to climb out of a national housing crisis, we need to stop Councils getting stuck with the legal risks of consenting.”

“Flood defences should be factored into the private cost of a development, if that’s what potential homeowners want to pay for. Denying homebuyers that choice in the long run only ends up denying people the ability to buy homes at all.”