Funding awarded for Thornton Bay slip stabilisation project

Published on 31 January 2024

Our Council has been approved to receive $1.3 million to fund slip stabilisation work in Thornton Bay, on the Thames Coast, from the government’s Cyclone Recovery Unit’s Local Government Flood Co-investment Fund.

Thornton Bay was impacted by a significant slip during the severe weather events one year ago. A large volume of material slipped from predominantly public conservation land onto multiple private properties, significantly damaging two of them (pictured above).

There is ongoing land instability which poses a risk to private properties and public infrastructure including roading, freshwater, stormwater, and wastewater networks, and telecommunications and power networks.

“It’s fantastic to receive news today from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) about the funding commitment,” says our Chief Executive Aileen Lawrie.

“This funding is a significant contribution towards the design and construction of an engineered solution to stabilise the complex area affected by the slip. This will go a long way to alleviate anxiety for our local residents by adding much-needed resilience to the properties and infrastructure located above the slip site which are at risk from land instability issues,” says Ms Lawrie.

The work will help stabilise the slope and provide significant protection to the properties and infrastructure, to a higher standard than existed before last year’s storms. The project aligns with the work outlined in our Recovery Plan published last year, in particular the ‘fit-for-purpose infrastructure (resilient)’ work stream.

Our application was among 35 from councils affected by last year’s North Island Weather Events. A total of $73.7 million was applied for, from a fund with $42.1 million to allocate. Councils in Waikato region submitted applications for $22.535 million, of which $5.666 was approved.

“We congratulate Waikato Regional Council for the approval of $3.3 million funding for flood resilience work in several parts of the region, including the Coromandel,” says Ms Lawrie.

The Thornton Bay project has been approved for the full amount of funding our Council applied for.