Consultation on Westport Flood Protection Scheme closes with 81 submissions received

23 Oct 2026

The community has had its say on the Special Consultative Procedure on resetting the Westport Flood Protection.

More than 80 submissions were received by the close of the month-long consultation period – the end of Wednesday 21 October 2026.

Of the submissions received by the West Coast Regional Council (WCRC), 62 were provided online and 19 via paper submission.

Public hearings will be held in Westport on Tuesday 27 October for the 17 parties who indicated they would like to speak to their submission. Of those, 13 will speak in person and 4 online.

The hearings will begin at 1pm at the NBS Theatre in Westport and will be streamed live on the WCRC’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@westcoastregionalcouncil5171). They are expected to take around three hours.

The Westport Flood Protection Scheme is being delivered by the Regional Council as part of the Resilient Westport programme of work. An extensive review has been carried out in recent months resulting in the need to reset the scheme to deliver a more affordable solution, that still achieves a significant reduction in the flood hazard.

This means considering:

  • The impact on rates arising from the increased cost of the scheme

  • Changes to the level of flood protection to be delivered for Westport

  • Funding flood protection for Carters Beach.

The proposed changes represent a significant variation from West Coast Regional Council’s Long-Term Plan (2024-2034), triggering additional consultation for an amended Long-Term Plan (LTP).

A breakdown of the submissions, including the preferred option signalled by the community and a summary of written feedback will be provided in November.

The results of the SCP will be presented to the Regional Council in December 2026 when Council will vote on adopting any amendment to the LTP.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:
media@resilientwestport.co.nz