The council announced new minimum floor-level requirements for new homes and building extensions of from 3.05m to 3.17m above sea level earlier this week.
The council said this was the first update to coastal minimum floor-level requirements since 2011.
However, a council spokesman said the new minimum floor levels did not apply to South Dunedin, where much of the land was about 1m above sea level.
The new rules only applied to most low-lying coastal areas including parts of Karitane, Waikouaiti, Warrington, Blueskin Bay, Pūrākaunui, Long Beach, Otago Harbour, Tomahawk, Brighton, the South Coast, and Papanui and Hoopers Inlets, and were set for these areas "to better protect against flooding due to sea-level rise", the spokesman said.
"For South Dunedin, rainfall events remain the dominant factor when establishing MFL [minimum floor levels] over the next 50 years.
"The MFL requirements for South Dunedin were more recently changed following the flood event in 2015.
"Our data was updated with the 2024 flood, and we are satisfied the MFL requirements for South Dunedin comply with the New Zealand Building Code and are appropriate," he said.
The DCC, as a Building Consent Authority, was required to ensure all new building work complied with the New Zealand Building Code and that included considerations for protections against flooding from weather events and sea-level rise, he said.
As a result there was no consultation with stakeholders.
In a statement this week, the council said it was aware the new minimum floor levels would affect some projects partway through the planning stage.
The spokesman said yesterday the council did not know how many in-development projects might be impacted by the changes, "but we will work with affected parties to find a solution". — APL
