We’re all ‘Better Off’ thanks to the Hikurangi repo project

Published on 18 October 2023

Flooding impacts, peat shrinkage, changing land use, cultural values and waterway health are key issues being looked at by stakeholders through the Hikurangi Repo (wetland) Environmental Improvement Options & Business Case, known as the Hikurangi Repo Project. 

Funded by the Department of Internal Affairs through its Better Off Funding Support Package, the Project looks at future options for approximately 8,000ha of land in the Hikurangi repo, giving local hapū, farmers, landowners, community members and commercial stakeholders the chance to plan for a better future for this significant area. 

Better Off Funding

Whangarei District Councillor and Chair of Infrastructure Committee, Simon Reid, says ongoing extreme weather events, combined with other factors such as a sinking peat surface, means stakeholders at Hikurangi repo are ready for change.  

“The Hikurangi Repo Project gives us a great opportunity to look at a situation that’s been causing a lot of problems for hapū, local farmers, commercial land users and the wider community. This is productive agricultural land, but it’s also land with high cultural and ecological value.”  

Land within the project area includes a mixture of private and public properties including freehold farmland and wetland systems owned by the Department of Conservation. While we own and operate the Hikurangi Flood Management Scheme Plan that was built in the seventies, including multiple pumps and stop banks, Councillor Reid says this scheme is now in need of review.  

“The resilience of our farmers who pay to run the scheme is being sorely tested with repeated significant floods, and the health of the repo is in question. Council’s flood scheme is challenged by the loss of sediment in the upper catchment to the Kaipara Harbour, subsidence of land, high operating costs and poor water quality in the Wairua River, as is much of the Kaipara Harbour watershed area. The pumping stations are having issues, and the weather events we’re all experiencing are becoming more frequent.

“Through the Hikurangi Repo Project, we’re having meaningful conversations with a wide range of stakeholders to find outcomes which will work for everyone, including wider benefits such as water quality, ecological opportunities, flood management and economic resilience.

“This is the first step in a journey. Once investigative work has been completed, approval will be sought from Council. 

This process is about making sure our farming community, repo, hapū, ecology and economy are all 'Better Off' now, and into the future.”