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HEAD OF LAKE WHAKATIPU

COMMUNITY UPDATE 37 | JUNE 2024

Kia ora koutou,

In this edition we share a link to a recording of our recent online community meeting and let you know where you can find a copy of the socio-economic impact assessment report.

We also reveal the winners of the art competition and show you all the amazing entries we received.

We would like to thank everyone in the Glenorchy community for your ongoing participation and feedback.

Socio-economic impact assessment update

Thank you to those who came to the online community meeting on Wednesday, 22 May, where we shared the findings of the socio-economic impact assessment. The assessment looked at the current resilience of the Head of the Lake community and potential socio-economic impacts of indicative natural hazard scenarios.

Read the full assessment here.

Missed the online meeting? You can find a recording on our website here.

What is covered in the meeting?

• Dr Jean-Luc Payan (ORC Manager Natural Hazards) gave a short overview of the programme and some context for the assessment.

• Jo Healy and Jerry Khoo (Beca Ltd) gave a presentation of key findings.

• An open Q&A session followed the presentation.

Key topics that came up included questions on how the insurance sector is involved in the adaptation programme, and how ORC and QLDC are building on their capabilities in an emergency response.

It was also great to hear that some of you in the community are thinking of using the findings of the assessment to see how you can be more resilient.

We have heard the queries raised during the meeting about the economic data used in the assessment and our response is below:

The report used GDP data from:

• Infometrics (2023): Regional Economic Profile Queenstown-Lakes District.

• As noted in the report, “tourism GDP” was estimated based on the proportion of tourism spending activity occurring within the Head of the Lake relative to the wider QLDC area. This proportion was then applied to the available tourism GDP estimate for QLDC (Infometrics footnote, page 45).

• Monthly Visitor Expenditure Data by Sub Region supplied by Queenstown NZ (not publicly available).

The report used population projections, including visitor number projections, from:

• Queenstown Lakes District Council: Population and Visitor Population Projections. This data is included in Appendix D (page 110) of the report.

We appreciate your continued interest and involvement in the wider adaptation programme and studies and thank you for your questions. We will be in touch to further follow up on some of the questions and topics you raised.

Winners of the Head of the Lake Youth Art Competition

Thank you everyone who entered the Head of the Lake Youth Art Competition. What a talented bunch! We were blown away by the quality of the art – it was difficult choosing the top entries.

Keep an eye on future newsletters to see how the entries will be featured in the Head of the Lake Natural Hazards Adaptation Strategy report.

You can see a montage of all the designs we received below. The theme was ‘What does the Head of the Lake mean to you?’ and the competition was open to children and young people aged 17 and under.

Image: Montage of all entries received

The overall winner is Connie Anderson, who won a $100 voucher for book or art supplies! Her design will be featured on the front cover of the strategy document.

Image: Connie Anderson’s winning design

The runner up in the 9+ age group is Mackenzie Jones, who won a $30 voucher for books or art supplies.

Image: Mackenzie Jones’ winning design for the 9+ age category

The runner up in the 6–8-year-old age group is Jack Watts, who won a $30 voucher for books or art supplies.

Image: Jack Watts’ winning design for the 6-8-year-old category

The runner up in the 5 and under category is Thomas Green, who won a $30 voucher for books or art supplies.

Image: Thomas Green’s winning design for the 5 and under category

What’s coming up?

We plan to hold more sessions with the community throughout this next phase of the hazard adaptation strategy. These provide opportunities to discuss findings and listen to your feedback – we value your input.

Soon we will be able to share the findings of the Glenorchy and Kinloch natural hazards risk assessment and the flood and erosion mitigation and nature-based solutions feasibility assessment. We will have more information for you in the July newsletter.

We will also be looking for your input into your preferences on how we might adapt to changes – this will help turn the long list of possible adaptation responses, which we presented at our last workshop on 31 August, into potential adaptation pathways for the long-term future of the Head of the Lake area.

Image: High-level overview of adaptation pathways

As always, we value your feedback

This adaptation programme was initiated because complex, increasing natural hazards in the Head of Lake Whakatipu require a comprehensive management response that takes a long-term view and encompasses all types of natural hazards.

This is your community, and we want to work with you to develop understanding and resilience. Check here to learn more about the whole programme.

If you have questions or need information, visit our website to see the reports and get answers.

You can also speak to a member of the ORC Natural Hazards team on 0800 474 082 or email us for more information at headofthelake@orc.govt.nz.

We will provide responses to any emailed questions and facilitate answers from our consultants if needed.

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Contacts

If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with us, please email us at headofthelake@orc.govt.nz.