About 100 people live in the Upper Selwyn Huts. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Selwyn District Councillors are considering reviewing the deadline by which residents living in the Upper Selwyn Huts must leave.
In March, the council voted to evict the entire settlement near Lake Ellesmere by 2039, partly because of the risks of climate change.
About 100 people live in the Upper Selwyn Huts, which are on Crown land and managed by Selwyn District Council.
Residents were devastated by the decision, and said council consultation and communication was inadequate.
The future of the huts will be discussed at a meeting on Wednesday, where councillors will vote on whether they pause the current process. This would allow for further consultation with the settlement on when and how they will leave.
A report by Selwyn District Council executive director enabling services Tim Harris recommended this option. He proposed the council "pauses the current USH (Upper Selwyn Huts) process that would have resulted in a deed of licence (DOL) being issued for a period of five years from 1 October 2024, with the conditional opportunity to renew the DOL for two further periods of five years up to a maximum total of 15 years".
It was recommended the council agree to engage with the hut community through to 1 March next year, to develop a proposal concerning the future licensing arrangements for the settlement. This would involve a discussion around the appropriate level of financial contribution from the settlement to an upgraded wastewater pipeline.
As part of the current draft licence, hut owners will be expected to pay 30 percent of the new $4 million wastewater pipeline.
The report said since the eviction notice in March, the council had received more than 200 individual queries and Local government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) requests concerning the Upper Selwyn Huts.
Key themes of the feedback included that the community had "grave concerns" about the potential loss of their homes and the emotional and financial impact this would have.
Residents also felt they were not given enough opportunity to engage on the options put before the council at the March meeting regarding their future.
In 2019, the council determined the Upper Selwyn Hut licences would be for a finite period because of the risks and costs to people living there.
Harris' report said council decisions in relation to the hut community were originally based on this premise. It said they were made in the context of an uncertain wastewater system, but this uncertainty had now gone.
"From the investigations that were required to respond to the many questions and LGOIMA requests, it is apparent that elements of the USH community may have considered that this changed the basis of those decisions. It therefore may now be appropriate for the council to follow a fuller consultative process in relation to DOL decisions," the report said.
