The Port Hills fires affected parts of Christchurch City and Selwyn District in February-March 2017.
This Port Hills Fire Recovery Plan outlines actions to be completed to enable Selwyn district communities to recover from the Port Hills fire of February-March 2017.
A Recovery Plan Discussion Document was produced in May 2017, giving residents and stakeholders the opportunity to comment on the proposed Recovery Plan. People who asked to be involved in the review of the Recovery Plan were sent the discussion document via email and it was also made available to the general public on the Council’s website.
The Council is striving to make the recovery process a success. The Recovery Plan, which has had community and stakeholder input, outlines proposed actions to be carried out and defines the resources and measurement tools needed to achieve its set goals. Transparency and clear communication is at the core of the Council’s current recovery efforts and this is reflected in the Recovery Plan.
Recovery teams have been established to lead the Port Hills fire recovery in both Christchurch city and Selwyn district.
The recovery phase will include identifying the resources required for the recovery and working with stakeholders and the affected community to develop a draft recovery plan. The plan will identify issues and opportunities as a consequence of the fire, and will focus on the natural environment, built environment, social and economic recovery. More information will be provided as this work is further developed into an action plan.
In Selwyn, Al Lawn, Helene Faass and Sue Jenkins are coordinating the recovery effort for residents in the Early Valley Road and surrounding areas. A Draft Discussion document has been created to guide the future recovery of the Selwyn area affected by the Port Hills fire.
The Port Hills fire began on Monday 13 February, and expanded significantly on Wednesday 15 February - eventually extending over an area of 1,645 hectares with a perimeter of 51 kilometres.
A State of Emergency was in place from Wednesday 15 February to Wednesday 1 March. The emergency operations centre at Selwyn District Council was stood down from Friday 10 March, and control of the fire operation reverted to Selwyn District Council and DOC.
The fire was officially declared extinguished on 20 April 2017.
More information on the fires and updates on the recovery programme in Christchurch and Selwyn are available at Christchurch City Council's website.