Focus on cyclone recovery work

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Gisborne District Council’s 2023/2024 Annual Plan has a short-term focus on repairing roads and bridges, and resilience work for the city’s water supply system. It sets out what the council can commit to delivering over the next financial year in addition to cyclone recovery works, supported by $61m already received from central government. Its budgeted rates income for the year is $74.5m, including a 6.5 percent average rise.

A five-page consultation document is available at the council offices and on its website. The council is seeking written submissions by June 16; there will be no hearing or formal submissions this year and after collating feedback, the council aims to adopt the plan on June 28.

Next month the council will start engagement and consultation on its three-year “road to recovery” plan, released late last month.

The Annual Plan consultation document lists five key recovery areas.

Road reinstatement: The immediate priority is reinstating safe access and reconnecting communities. The plan provides for $65m of a total road reinstatement programme estimated to cost $320m-$420m. While implementing temporary fixes, the design process will be under way to develop permanent solutions.

Woody debris removal: The council has $31.4m from central government to clean up remaining silt and woody debris in our waterways and on our beaches. It will also develop a Woody Debris Emergency Response Plan, and might buy equipment and land to sustainably dispose of woody debris now and for future flooding impacts.

Forestry focus: The council has established a forestry team and increased its resources for monitoring and compliance. It will use aerial mapping and inspections to identify areas where woody debris is at high risk of moving and posing a risk to infrastructure. Ecologists and technical officers will be recruited who will work with industry to enable safe and sustainable forestry practices.

Land management: $3m has been granted to expand the council’s land management team for three to four years to support Freshwater Farm Plans and comply with new freshwater requirements, and to investigate erosion control methods, create a spatial dataset for assessing land treatment needs, foster sustainable land use and to increase plantings, fencing and pest control around waterways.

Flood protection: $4.2m of work is planned for the Waipaoa Flood Control Resilience project, focused on the western side of the Waipaoa River. Over the year the council will do more investigations to determine best solutions for flood protection across the district, and apply for more funding to accelerate this work.