The community was asked to respond to seven potential adaptation futures for South Dunedin, as well as public tolerance of flooding and views on funding climate adaptation.

South Dunedin Future programme manager Jonathan Rowe says , “We’re grateful to the many people who took the time to share their views. There appears to be a strong mandate for change, to move beyond the status quo, and to work together toward a safer, more resilient South Dunedin.”

This phase of community engagement involved more than 1,200 individuals and organisations participating in a series of workshops, drop-in events, online surveys, and targeted stakeholder dialogue from 29 March to 11 May 2025.

Key results included:

• Almost 73% of respondents indicated that Future 1 – Status quo (keep doing what we are doing) is taking South Dunedin in the wrong direction.
• Future 4 – “Space for Water” (waterways and wetlands) was the most supported, with 59% agreeing this takes South Dunedin in the right direction.
• Future 7 – “Let Water In” (large-scale retreat) was the least popular overall, with 47% indicating this takes South Dunedin in the wrong direction.

When asked about risk and tolerance, 83% of respondents indicated that South Dunedin would become ‘unliveable’ for them if floodwaters entered their homes, even occasionally. In contrast, there was a higher level of tolerance for minor or ‘nuisance’ flooding in areas such as parks, streets, and open spaces.

Two prominent themes emerged in the feedback across all Futures included that council should build more infrastructure in the short term to reduce present day flood risk, and that people want more information about any potential managed retreat process, including in regard to location, timing, and process for property buy-outs.

“The survey results show that people want action that responds to the scale of the challenge. This includes getting on top of present-day flooding issues, while also being open to large-scale change that might be required to tackle climate-change impacts in the future”, says Mr Rowe.

In addition to public engagements, targeted sessions were held with infrastructure providers, banks, insurers, developers, social service agencies, and government agencies. The results of these sessions showed a desire for a clear, long-term strategy to support decision-making and investment confidence.

South Dunedin Future is a joint programme launched in 2020 by the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council to develop a comprehensive climate change adaptation plan for South Dunedin that is viable, affordable, and has broad support.

Mr Rowe says, “the engagement report being presented to both councils marks the conclusion of the current phase of community engagement. The feedback received will now be combined with more technical and economic work to identify a shortlist of three adaptation futures for South Dunedin.”

The engagement report will be discussed this week by Councillors at the ORC Council meeting on Wednesday, 23 July and the DCC Council meeting on Wednesday 30 July. 

The South Dunedin Future programme remains on track to deliver a shortlist of three adaptation futures by early-2026, and following further community engagement, a final adaptation plan for South Dunedin is scheduled for completion by December 2026.