DISASTER RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE
A CASE STUDY ON MARLBOROUGH , NEW ZEALAND
Kyle Barrie and Yadi Wang
INTRODUCTION Changing climate is impacting us all . Climate change increases the variability of weather , and extreme weather events pose great challenges to transport infrastructure that are designed for and operate within a particular climate range . Transport networks can be enormously impacted by floods , geohazards , high winds , and other natural hazards , resulting in far-reaching effects on local economies and community wellbeing . Proactively and reactively planning for the impacts of climate change and severe weather disasters on the road network has become a policy focus of transport agencies at all levels , trying to build in resilience throughout transport infrastructure and the broader community . The Parliament of Australia stated that :
“ It is at the local government level that the effects of national , state and territory , and local road infrastructure policy frameworks are most acutely felt … Many councils and shires service road infrastructure networks ranging across hundreds to thousands of kilometres of sealed and unsealed roads , with hundreds of bridges , culverts , and drains . The local road infrastructure network is extensive , complex , expensive to maintain , repair and upgrade , yet essential to community and industry socio-economic sustainability . The effects of severe weather events can have a devastating impact on road infrastructure assets and communities .”
Practical experience and approaches aligning with this key local government priority , in delivering resilient and adaptable transport infrastructure that connects people with places and opportunities , are acutely needed .
In 2023 , Stantec was appointed by the Marlborough District Council in New
Zealand to develop a recovery and adaptation plan for the damaged local roads within the Marlborough Sounds – the Marlborough Sounds Future Access Study ( MSFAS ) project . Grounded on this project , the objective of this paper is to provide valuable insights into transport resilience and adaptation planning and can serve as a source of experiences and lessons learned for future decision making .
The paper focuses on the use of a bottomup community-oriented approach to building transport network resilience – underscoring the importance of integrating the actual needs of the affected community with resilience-building solutions – versus , a top-down transport guidance approach which can at times be mandated as part of the business case response to infrastructure investment without consideration of local uniquities .
VOL 17 NO 1 2024 20 www . edaustralia . com . au