The Government's decision over what to do with newly flood-damaged properties will help planning for managed retreats in places that haven't yet been flooded, Climate Change Minister James Shaw says.
Officials are currently working on a plan for what to do in places where it doesn't make sense to repair or rebuild following climate change-induced natural disasters.
Shaw told Q+A that some communities might have to move to safer locations if rebuilding in the same place does not make sense.
"If we fail to make those decisions within a matter of weeks, then we will ultimately leave people in the position where they do have to rebuild to the same standard as before in the same location as before, and that actually increases vulnerability," he said.
"Not just in terms of the value of that property and so on and so forth, but also in terms of placing their families at risk."
Meanwhile, in West Auckland, the Government has said it hoped to give flooded homeowners more certainty within the next few weeks about the prospects of a managed retreat.
Shaw isn't on the Cabinet committee that will ultimately decide on homes affected by the Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle, but he is working on a framework for managed retreat in the future.
He said that many of the lessons from this year's extreme weather would apply to the framework for how New Zealand would react to future retreats.
The minister said that managed retreats should ideally occur before disasters strike, but that there are things that can be done in the post-disaster recovery phase to make communities more resilient.
"Clearly, there is a role for central government, there is a role for local government — particularly in areas where frankly their planning rules have let everyone down," he said.
"And also for the banks and for the insurance companies, and that's something we're working on at the moment."
The Climate Change Minister's legislation for managed retreat is expected to be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year.
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