Ten flood-hit Pākōwhai residents were told their land had been put into the provisional red zone - they haven't. Photo / Paul Taylor
Ten flood-hit Pākōwhai residents were told their land had been put into the provisional red zone - they haven't. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hastings District Council (HDC) has apologised to 10 Pākōwhai property owners after erroneously advising them that their land categorisation had been moved into a provisional red zone.
All up, HDC this week sent incorrect land category information to 34 Hawke’s Bay property owners who had asked for theirprovisional land categorisation to be reviewed.
The most erroneous of the emails were to 10 in Pākōwhai who were told they’d changed from Category 2A to 3, and a property owner in Esk Valley told they’d been changed from Category 3 to Category 1.
Twenty-three others in Pākōwhai, Whirinaki, Havelock North, Dartmoor and Omahu received HDC emails saying their categorisation had not changed when, in fact, it still might.
In very basic terms, Category 1 means it is safe to rebuild, Category 2 - which is split into three sections: A, C and P - means you can probably rebuild, in concert with the construction of flood mitigation infrastructure.
Category 3 means it is probably unsafe to build again.
“Decisions on recategorisation in Pākōwhai are waiting on further engineering investigations, commissioned by Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC), in response to community input and recategorisation requests,” Hastings District Council said in an apology email to Pākōwhai residents.
“Once this is completed, and HDC has received updates to categorisation from HBRC, we will provide the information to property owners as soon as possible.”
It conceded it jumped the gun in giving any land categorisation information to affected parties.
“Unfortunately, the responses to 34 residents were prepared and sent prior to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council finalising the change in category. It was an administrative error,” HDC interim recovery manager Craig Cameron told Hawke’s Bay Today.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, meanwhile, insists that nothing is set in stone.
Pakowhai was one of the worst-hit residential areas, during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / NZME
It says it has engaged engineering and environmental consultancy company Pattle Delamore Partners (PDP) to define the current Category 2A line in Pākōwhai.
“This work will split the area into either Category 2C or 3,” an HBRC spokesman said.
“The line developed by PDP is not the final line. It will be subject to engagement with affected property owners.
“HBRC is moving with urgency and will work with all parties to have a meeting as soon as the initial work is complete.
“All Category 2 and Category 3 land categorisations remain provisional.”
Hastings District Council is not just sending an email apology, but also following up with a phone call apology in which staff would answer any questions the landowner had, Cameron said.
“They have been advised that they can have further questions answered via drop-in centres, or they can call us.
“The process that led to the error has been reviewed. It was an administrative error, and checking steps have been added to the process to ensure this does not happen again.”
Hamish Bidwell joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2022 and works out of the Hastings newsroom.
