Kia ora Kāpiti

We hope this newsletter finds you safely during these uncertain times. Our current environment highlights more than ever the importance of community resilience, including planning for change amid uncertainty. It also highlights the importance of positive relationships and manaakitanga in our everyday interactions with one another. We're confident this will drive further our collective effort on this important mahi.

We want to thank all those that joined us at the Takutai Kāpiti: Climate Change and our Coast Summit on 8 March to share knowledge, and discuss how we move forward together as a coastal community in the face of climate change.

Takutai Kāpiti Summit

The Takutai Kāpiti Summit brought together people from all around the district to begin the conversation on climate change and our coast. We heard from speakers presenting on a range of topics in the morning session, and the afternoon sessions saw some great conversation facilitated through “couch sessions” in the Council tent. 

These couch sessions were well attended, and provided an important opportunity for the community to ask questions of the day’s speakers. The afternoon was filled with valuable discussion on topics around climate change and our coast, and was an excellent way to kick-start the community conversation about the mahi ahead.

We’d love to hear what you thought of the Summit, so please fill out our short survey.

The Takutai Kāpiti project

The Takutai Kāpiti project will work to develop solutions and ways of adapting to coming change along the district’s coastline. This will be achieved through:

• reliable, evidence-based and accessible science
• the knowledge of tangata whenua
• you, our Kāpiti community.

Takutai Kāpiti will see the establishment of Community Assessment Panels to consider the issues and options, and make recommendations to Council decision-makers.

The panel(s) will be working groups of local people, representing a cross-section of the community, who will meet regularly to consider the coastal hazards and risks they represent. This includes identifying the areas that may be affected by various coastal hazards over the long term, and the risks to public and private property, sites of cultural significance, recreational areas and infrastructure services.

Cultural, technical and scientific advice will be provided to help guide panel discussions.
At the end of this process, the project aims to deliver a sustainable and flexible 100-year coastal adaptation strategy for the Kāpiti Coast District that is informed by sound technical expertise, and reflects the values and aspirations of tangata whenua and the community.

The community will be at the heart of the Kāpiti Coast District Council’s coastal adaptation project to respond to the challenges of climate change and sea-level rise in our region.
Predicting what will happen is not easy, and we know people will have mixed views about how, when and what action might be needed. However, we know that communities who plan for change are more resilient and prepared when a response is required.

We’re in this together. We need our communities to be part of the conversation, and the conversation has begun.

Next steps

From mid April, a calendar of engagement events will be available on our website. This will be a programme of online content, including webinars, online activities and video content to learn more about the challenges of climate change and sea-level rise, and how to get involved in the project. (With the recent developments relating to COVID-19, all of our engagements and tools will be based online for the foreseeable future.)

Visit www.takutaikapiti.nz for more information.