The Hurunui District Council will notify a plan change next week to allow it to rezone farmland south of Amberley, so it can plan for the future relocation of Amberley Beach.

The council purchased the $3.8m Hursley Terrace Road property last year and now plans to rezone 34ha to sub-divide into 200 residential sections.

Sections would be balloted and made available to the 109 Amberley Beach property owners.

The remaining sections will be sold on the open market to cover the costs of the council’s loan, council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said.

‘‘This is a uniquely Hurunui solution. With proactive relocation, you don’t know how long you’ve got, so this is about trying to plan a pathway for the future.’’

Sections will be made available to Amberley Beach property owners for $11,000, which can be paid in one lump sum or paid off as a targeted rate.

The title of the new section would be attached to the existing property, but the process was entirely voluntary, he said.

Mr Dobbie said he was aware of a range of views among Amberley Beach residents.

‘‘There’s no guarantee people won’t be forced to move. If the sea washes their land away, they may be forced and not have somewhere to go.’’

Amberley Beach residents were consulted prior to notifying the plan change, Mayor Marie Black said.

‘‘It’s an opportunity to work it through the process and encourage a good, robust submission process.

‘‘It’s important to note we are stepping our way through the process. We have a concept and we have to work our way through and consider all the implications.’’

Proactive relocation was one of the options included in the Amberley Beach Coastal Adaptation Plan, adopted by the council three years ago.

It was based on a report by international firm Jacobs, which considered different climate change scenarios.

Amberley Beach Residents' and Ratepayers' Association chairperson Marc Coulthard said the association had raised concerns about the coastal adaptation plan relying on an ‘‘extreme climate scenario’’.

The concerns were in line with a recent Government announcement noting ‘‘extreme climate scenarios shouldn't be treated as the most likely future for decisions about infrastructure investment, land use, property rights, or the justification of rezoning highly productive land’’.

‘‘It made clear councils must rely on robust evidence, and put major climate-driven spending proposals through rigorous, independent scrutiny,’’ he said.

Mr Coulthard said the association had requested to make a deputation to last month’s council meeting and had written to councillors.

The council has set aside $750,000 for the plan change process, while the $3.8m land purchase was loan funded.

Submissions close in late August, before a second round of submissions and then hearings before an independent commissioner.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.