West Coast Regional Council chief executive Darryl Lew said the change still depended on getting government financial help.
The overwhelming support for a 10-year strategy based on expert advice to the council was presented to the community in early October.
The council had also asked for feedback and that showed
75% of the community was in favour of the strategy for the south side, he said.
However, it had come with a caveat that those affected should be compensated.
The Waiho Flat area has about 80 residents. There are about 40 lifestyle and residential properties and several large dairy and dairy support farms.
Mr Lew said the next step was to sound out the government about a property buyout.
It was unclear yet if the model previously used to formulate and consult for the Westport flood resilience scheme would also be acceptable for the Waiho strategy.
Regional council chairman Peter Haddock said a satisfactory outcome for the Waiho Flat landowners would take a lot of work.
"I guess the main point was that the south side people are in the majority in favour of the proposal for the long-term strategy. There's a lot of water to go under the bridge."
About $8.8 million allocated by the previous government in 2020 for the $24m co-funded Waiho River Protection scheme remained ring-fenced for the Waiho south bank side.
The council wanted some of that released immediately to begin on the 10-year strategy, Mr Haddock said.
It would immediately fund the strategy's top priority, to urgently bolster emergency management provisions for Waiho Flat.
Funding would also be needed for continuing maintenance of existing south side stopbanks and developing a master plan.
Any abandonment of Waiho Flat, moving State Highway 6 inland and a staged release of the stopbanks was a 10-year process.
"From what I can see the north [bank] have ended up with the big stopbanks whereas the south haven't had anything apart from piecemeal maintenance — but the area is still vulnerable", Mr Haddock said.
— Brendon McMahon, Local democracy reporter
