Meadowstone suburb's stone walls will have to be modified as part of the Otago Regional Council's flood mitigation plans for Stoney Creek.
The regional council last week applied for resource consent for part B of a three-part flood mitigation programme designed to protect houses at the western edge of Wanaka from floods during periods of intense rainfall in the Mt Alpha catchment.
Several houses were badly damaged when mud and debris overwhelmed a culvert in Studholme Rd during floods in 1999 and in 2003.
The mitigation project has been under way since 2005.
Part A of the project involved channel-shaping and debris trap formation work in the creeks between Studholme Rd and stage 6 of the Meadowstone.
Part B creates bunds near Meadowstone Dr and secondary flow paths either side of the Meadowstone culvert.
It also removes 10m sections of both walls and excavates and shapes swales to carry overflow in the event of an extreme flood event.
Part C involves modifications to driveway crossings at Stoney Creek giving access to Hawthenden Ltd's property.
That work would also involve shaping channels and forming debris traps.
This aspect has been the subject of an ongoing dispute over safety issues between the ORC and landowners Owen and Eric Hopgood for more than three years.
Part B is likely to proceed without too many obstacles.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has agreed to part B, and owns the road and park reserve where the works will take place.
An arborist has assessed the risk to nearby trees on Mt Aspiring Rd and has determined that certain tree protection conditions should be met.
The ORC has asked for a five year consent, but expects the work to be completed over a period of a few months.
The "gentle" slopes of the bunds would be covered in topsoil and grassed over once the work is completed, the ORC says, in its non-notified resource consent application.
