This review report has been prepared in response to a request by the Chief Executive of the Whakatāne District Council (WDC) to review the actions taken by the Council in relation to the adverse weather and flooding events affecting the district in April 2017. The objectives of the review were:

• To provide a summary of the actions taken by WDC in activating and responding to the flooding event when the Rangitāiki river breached its stop bank wall on 6 April 2017.
• To establish the extent to which WDC’s systems, processes and capability are aligned with the requirements and expectations of a district council in an adverse flooding event.
• To identify opportunities for improvement to strengthen the ability of WDC to respond to and manage any future significant flooding event.

This review is separate from but complementary to the review commissioned by the Bay of Plenty CDEM Group of the Group’s response to the April 2017 weather events, undertaken by John Hamilton of Kestrel Group. It is also separate to the Rangitāiki River Scheme Review commissioned by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and chaired by Sir Michael Cullen.

• Summary of Kestrel report on Whakatāne District Council April 2017 flood response (PDF, 826.31 KB)
• Kestrel report on Whakatāne District Council April 2017 flood response - (PDF, 1.85 MB)

This review was undertaken against Civil Defence Emergency Management arrangements and practices current at the time of the event, noting that a Ministerial Review of civil defence emergency management had been convened prior to the April 2017 weather events to consider the most appropriate operational and legislative mechanisms to support effective responses.