New buildings and extensions to older buildings may need to be built on higher ground to avoid floods according to information revealed by CCC/CERA.
The message for St Albans is unclear. Parts of the map released by the council are not coloured at all (no extra height required) and others are coloured green or blue showing they are possibly likely to flood if a one in 50 or one in 200 year flood occurs. Then there is a large U shaped, piece of land coloured grey which the council has yet to categorise.
Homeowners can consult the interactive map to see what colour their land is. Limited information is available about what height increases are required but some samples show that Bexley, probably one of the most flood prone areas, will require as much as a 1.2 metre lift during rebuilding.
The main source of a 200 year flood would probably come from the Waimakariri River breaking its banks, as it did in 1868, flooding into central Christchurch.
To find out more visit this webpage. To use the linked map you may need to download one or more plugins to view the document. One is silverlight and the other is Geocortex.
