Crown manager Lawrence Yule believes $70m can buy Wairoa long-term flood protection without ‘significant’ relocations

Lawrence Yule says he understands Wairoa and its issues and intends to work hard for the community after being announced as the Crown manager.

The former Hastings mayor and National MP for Tukituki said he was excited to take on the role as overseer of flood protection for the community, but said it would be a “big job”.

“This is a difficult problem and I don’t think anybody should go into this knowing that it is going to be easy.”

Yule’s role is to work with the Wairoa District Council and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to come to an agreement on how to stop flooding.

He said he wanted to reduce the impact flood protection work would have on the community, including near marae and on Māori land, houses and properties.

“At this stage we are looking at protection works rather than significant relocation.”

He said the Wairoa River was a challenge to tame because of its tidal influence, a “dramatic” increase in sediment in the river bed, an increasing sea level at the bar and a historically significant number of properties built on floodplains beside it.

Lawrence Yule says he wants the best long-term flood protection solution for Wairoa.

“The challenge is to make sure we factor all that in to come up with the best plan for the longest solution.”

Yule said he planned to engage with the community through public meetings that he expected to start in September.

“We need the community of Wairoa to have genuine buy-in to whatever the solutions are.”

Yule said he wanted the process to be transparent, so people could ask questions to understand what decisions were being made.

Last year the Government announced $70 million for flood protection work along the Wairoa River, which does not have any flood protection such as stopbanks.

“My view is that we should be able to fix and find a solution for the North Clyde flooding and the Kopu Rd flooding within the $70 million.”

The former engineer said he had spent a significant amount of time in the town and was aware of the challenges it faced.

“Wairoa has never had any flood protection work despite things being designed after Cyclone Bola, there was never any money.”

He said he would work to utilise the money and make sure the town got the best flood protection under the circumstances.

“I believe we can find the technical solutions within that $70 million, but we have also got to make sure we are giving the best solution and minimising the impact on properties.”

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little says Yule will ‘hit the ground running’

Wairoa District Mayor Craig Little said he was happy with the appointment of Yule as a Crown manager.

“It’s good to get someone who for a start is an engineer from way back, he is local government and he knows his stuff and the realms that we move in.”

Little was pleased that something was getting done so the community could move forward.

“His knowledge of where we are so far is right up there and that is important, so he can hit the ground running.”

It has been alleged that delays in opening the bar at the Wairoa River mouth in June led to widespread flooding in the town. Photo / NZME

He said Yule would be a good fit for the community because he was familiar with the town’s flooding issues.

“As independent chairman of the Wairoa Stakeholder Group, Lawrence is familiar with this project, and brings local and central government expertise.”

Little said the community had begun to feel like “poor cousins” and said the money needed to be spent accomplishing something around the river.

“We don’t want it to be spent on bureaucracy and just going around and around in circles.”

He said they had “no excuse not to get on with it now”, and that Wairoa would eventually be returned to the way it once was.

“He is a very clever man and talented in what he does, so I think he will be fine.”

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said the councils would have to co-operate and comply with Yule’s directions and “work effectively together” to mitigate the kind of “disastrous flooding” seen in the town during Cyclone Gabrielle and in June.

Wairoa was left to clean up after June flooding destroyed over 400 homes. Photo / Paul Taylor

The role would focus on getting the right systems in place to deliver a flood management catchment plan and flood protection works.

Yule will begin serving in the role on August 15. The term of the role is one and a half years, until February 13, 2026.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council said it welcomed Yule’s appointment.

Regional council chairwoman Hinewai Ormsby said it was glad to have Yule’s expertise on board to ensure the effective use of Crown and local funding in a timely manner and to progress flood mitigation solutions faster for Wairoa.

Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love of sharing stories about farming and rural communities.