Mārahau is the southern gateway into Abel Tasman National Park. Around 150 people live in Mārahau, but the population swells over the holiday season. The small coastal village has an outdoor education centre, a café, a restaurant, and tourism-based activities and housing. The road access and the village are vulnerable to flooding, coastal erosion, inundation, and sea level rise. The hill slopes that surround Mārahau are of Separation Point granite that is susceptible to instability.
- Minimising adverse effects from development on the Abel Tasman National Park.
- Mārahau is vulnerable to coastal hazards and sea level rise, and forms part of Council’s Coastal Management Project working with our coastal communities on our long-term adaptive planning response. More information is available here.
- As tourism visitor numbers to the National Park increase, there is a risk that Mārahau:
- May be unable to satisfy demand for tourist services
- Can lose its distinctive sense of place, identity, and character
- Servicing land currently deferred but zoned for residential and tourist services is constrained by underlying geology and associated risks of flooding and future sea level rise.
- Keep the area’s special rural and coastal character and manage wastewater by retaining appropriate lot sizes.
- To not provide for significant future residential or commercial growth beyond what is currently available.
- As part of work towards long-term adaptive planning for sea level rise and coastal hazards, consider a range of land use-planning measures for discussion with the community mid-2023 (via the Coastal Management Project work programme). Measures may include controlling the types and densities of land uses (via zoning), subdivision and building restrictions, or identification of coastal setbacks or coastal risk areas.
