A public meeting in Westport last night attracted around 150 locals to hear about the Westport Emergency Management environment and enhanced evacuation planning for the area.

The people of Westport and surrounds are no strangers to emergency situations, and the goal of the Get Ready – Go! campaign was to encourage people to think ahead in the face of a possible flooding emergency.

Most local residents should have recently received a copy of the Westport: Get Ready – Go! Evacuation Guide in their letterboxes along with a short Household Evacuation Plan template to fill out with key information to help in the event of an emergency.

Encouraging the people of Westport and surrounds to think ahead in the face of a flooding emergency is at the heart of a campaign being delivered by West Coast Emergency Management Team, in conjunction with Resilient Westport.        

A Resource Consent Application was lodged on Friday (13 March 2026) with West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) and Buller District Council (BDC) for the Floating Lagoon stopbank in Westport.

A combined Resource Consent Application is being lodged today for the Carters Beach and Upper Buller stopbanks near Westport.

The stopbanks form part of the Resilient Westport, Flood Protection Scheme, being delivered by West Coast Regional Council (WCRC).

Local West Coast company Rosco Contractors Ltd has successfully tendered to carry out the work to build a rock revetment wall on the Buller River near the O’Conor Home in Westport.

As part of the Resilient Westport flood protection work, a section of the Upper Buller stopbank will cross over O'Conor Home land. The alignment of the stopbank means some reinforcing of the riverbank is required. .

West Coast Regional Council and Buller District Council are reassuring home and landowners in the Westport area that conversations with insurers will continue as changes are signalled.

This follows a letter sent to Buller Mayor Chris Russell last week indicating that AA Insurance will temporarily stop offering new business, home and landlord insurance policies for properties in the 7825 postcode due to flood-risk exposure.

The final ten metres of the Cats Creek bund in Westport will now be completed after agreement was reached with KiwiRail.

The work will get underway once a contractor is finalised.

Changes to how the Resilient Westport Adaptation Relief Fund will be administered will be discussed at next week’s West Coast Regional Council (WCRC) meeting.

The fund of $2m was provided for by central government in the Resilient Westport package of work. The aim is to assist homeowners still exposed to risk after the implementation of flood mitigation measures.

Spaces still remain for businesses in and around Westport to attend free workshops on how to bounce back better from major floods and other emergencies.

The free workshops are being offered as part of the Resilient Westport Business Resilience & Continuity Campaign targeting local business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs.

The enhanced Westport Flood: Evacuation Response Plan was endorsed by the West Coast Emergency Management (WCEM) Joint Committee at its quarterly meeting today.

Emergency Management self-evacuation survey results released

The survey answers will help Emergency Management test the estimates in the Enhanced Evacuation Plan.

Residents of greater Westport are being reminded our quick survey on self-evacuation is closing soon.

The survey, run by West Coast Emergency Management along with Resilient Westport, closes at the end of this week (Friday 7 November 4.30pm).

West Coast Emergency Management and Resilient Westport have teamed up to deliver two new initiatives to support the community of Westport and surrounds in the face of flooding and other emergencies. We are running a survey to help us gauge the readiness of the community to self-evacuate in a major flood or other emergency. We are also offering business continuity support for local business owners and managers in the event of an emergency.

The wider Westport community is being encouraged to participate in a survey to help gauge their readiness to self-evacuate in a major flood or other emergency.

The Westport Business Resilience & Continuity Campaign launches Wednesday 29^th October, 6:30-8:00pm at EPIC (10a Lyndhurst Street) with a free networking event targeting local business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs.

West Coast Regional Council is stockpiling some large rocks on part of the O’Conor Home land ahead of planned future works on the Upper Buller Stopbank.

There are about 2,000 tonnes of rocks there – out of an eventual tally of around 20,000 tonnes. They are intended for use, down the line, to reinforce the banks of the Buller River by the Home with a rock revetment wall.

Residents from Westport’s Carters Beach and immediate surrounds attended a meeting last night to hear plans for a stopbank in their area.

“Big thinking from a small town” was recognised with a top award at last night’s SuperLocal: Local Government NZ conference in Christchurch.

Buller District Council’s Master Planning work with the Resilient Westport team took out the SuperIdea - Tū Auaha Award.