What's Next After Liquefaction Report

Now that geo-technical investigation has shown that liquefaction is a risk in some of the land previously earmarked for future housing in Council’s Urban Growth Strategy, more work is being done to scope alternative locations for Blenheim’s residential development.

Given what is now known about likely liquefaction risk to land on the town’s perimeter, Council staff have begun the preparatory work necessary to identify more suitable blocks of land so that a plan can be drawn up showing the likely direction of future development and possible sites.

Soil stability is just one of a range of measures to be considered as Council considers where land could be re-zoned at a future time to meet the demands of residential growth.

By about August, Council hopes to be in a position to approach landowners of property that may be suitable for re-zoning. Discussions will be held with any such land owners to enable Council to produce an updated report on future land availability.

In the meantime, any landowner or developer, including those with sites now considered to be prone to liquefaction, is entitled to seek a private plan change if they wish to cut up land for housing. However, any such a developer would also have to take into consideration the economic cost of the design and construction mitigation that would likely be required before permission was granted to build in areas that have been identified as having unsuitable soils and deemed high risk.

The Blenheim Liquefaction Report is available on Council's website www.marlborough.govt.nz under the Environment Section, under the heading Natural Hazards.