Esk Valley, near Napier, was hit hard during Cyclone Gabrielle in February and has largely been zoned Category 3. Photo / George Heard
Esk Valley, near Napier, was hit hard during Cyclone Gabrielle in February and has largely been zoned Category 3. Photo / George Heard
A landmark deal has been agreed between Hawke’s Bay councils and the Government around how much each party will contribute toward Category 3 property buyouts in the region.
The agreement will see a 50/50 cost-sharing approach between Hawke’s Bay councils, with Category 3 residential properties, and Central Government for the voluntary buyouts.
Hawke’s Bay’s five councils met separately on Wednesday and Thursday during extraordinary meetings and unanimously accepted a cost-sharing package from the Government.
That package effectively set out how much the Government was willing to contribute toward property buyouts in the region following Cyclone Gabrielle, and also included a large amount of funding for flood protection upgrades and urgent roading and bridge repairs.
The package is worth up to $556 million in Government funding including $92.5 million for property buyouts in Hawke’s Bay, $203.5 million toward flood protection (for Category 2 areas between Wairoa and Pōrangahau), and $260 million for roading and bridge repairs.
Government and council contributions will be net of any insurance proceeds.
As of last week, there were 252 properties in Hawke’s Bay provisionally placed in Category 3, meaning they have been deemed unsafe to live on because of unacceptable flood risks. The bulk of those (232 properties) are in the Hastings District Council area.
Suburbs with Category 3 homes are Esk Valley, Tangoio, Pakowhai, Rissington, Dartmoor and Puketapu.
Hawke’s Bay is the first region to settle on a cost-sharing deal with the Government following the cyclone which could set a precedence for other impacted councils in the North Island.
A house buried in silt at Rissington. Photo / Neil Reid
The Government announced on June 1 that owners of Category 3 residential properties impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods would be offered a buyout option, numbering around 700 properties across Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Tairāwhiti (Gisborne).
It said at the time the huge cost of those buyouts would be split between councils and the Government.
That is a different stance to what happened following the Christchurch Earthquake, when the Government covered the full bill to buy out red-zoned houses.
For the buyout, the Government will support councils to purchase homes by contributing half the net cost (with the other half coming from councils). The net cost is the agreed buyout value less any insurance proceeds received, plus legal and transactional costs.
Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson has previously stated that “we know that with climate change there will be more severe weather events like this in the future” and a cost-sharing arrangement will councils would be “the basis for all future events of this type”.
Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said across his district there was damage that will take “years” to remedy and he has wondered how it will ever be achieved.
“By working together, our region’s councils and iwi have achieved a hugely positive outcome through the Government negotiation process, enabling the region to continue its transition toward meaningful, long-term recovery,” he said.
“Just as the councils have been working closely together, it remains essential for everyone involved in the recovery to work collectively for the benefit of all those communities across Hawke’s Bay that have been impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle,” he added. “We need to leave a positive legacy for our future generations, and it’s vital we get it right.”
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, whose district also took the brunt of the storm, said the agreement will be welcome news for cyclone-impacted communities across the region.
“For those in our community whose properties become finalised as Category 3, having a voluntary buyout process in place empowers people to make informed decisions and provides greater certainty about their future,” she said.
She said that to move the agreement forward, councils with Category 3 properties, which includes both the Hastings District and Napier City Councils, will need to consult with their communities, expected within weeks.
“Once that consultation process is complete, we hope to be in a position to share further information on the next steps for the voluntary buyout of residential properties in Category 3 areas directly with impacted property owners,” she said.
“On top of this, the Government investment in repairing our roading network and critical bridge rebuilds will provide our primary sector with confidence in our region’s recovery and get our economy moving again.”
Question marks still hang over a number of issues in Hawke’s Bay including how much each Category 3 homeowner will receive and how that will be calculated.
Until Thursday, details of the cost-sharing offer put to Hawke’s Bay councils from the Government had been kept secret.
