Some Hawke’s Bay residents, whose homes were inundated by rivers of silt during Cyclone Gabrielle, fear the future of their properties depend on the size of cash-strapped councils’ bank accounts.
Negotiations between the Government and councils over splitting the region’s cyclone recovery bill were dragging on and now would not be finished until the end of the month.
Included in those negotiations was who would stump up for flood protection measures to safeguard category 2 properties.
Whirinaki resident Danelle Kendrick’s home was in category 2A — which she described as being in limbo.
“I’m over it, I’ve just had to accept it for what it is and I’ve just had to learn to let go.”
Category 2A properties needed more assessment before it was decided whether they fell into category 2C, which needs flood protection measures, or 2P, which needs things like better drainage or raising.
Without those, they would be put in high-risk category 3, which is deemed too unsafe to rebuild and qualifies for a voluntary buyout.
Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle said the council put properties it believed could be saved into category 2.
But funding the measures to save them was murky.
Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle. Photo / RNZ
“That comes down to, what’s the cost and how do those costs get co-funded across government and communities?
“And, you know, with an eye on what can councils afford to do in terms of their ability to borrow, but also ratepayers’ ability to pay this through future rates.”
Kendrick was not holding out much hope.
“I don’t like our chances considering they [the Government] announced that there was only $100 million New Zealand-wide for flood-affected areas, and there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed.
“But it would be just nice to have some direction, to move forward, to know what’s actually going on, rather than not knowing when the next meeting is, or the next date, it’s just ... waiting.”
Whirinaki’s situation, however, is a bit different.
Neighbouring businesses Pan Pac, Transpower and Contact Energy agreed to pitch in to protect themselves and nearby locals.
As part of the Whirinaki Resilience Project, they were essentially underwriting the $750,000 bill for designing and consenting flood protection work.
Pan Pac managing director Tony Clifford said they suffered badly during the cyclone.
“Water and silt came over the top of the stopbanks behind Contact Energy and Pan Pac, causing our site to be flooded under 2m of water and 75,000cu m of silt.
“Our aim for the Whirinaki Resilience Project is to identify and implement the infrastructure needed to prevent such an event from occurring again.”
But the businesses would eventually look to claw that cash back from councils — and it was hoped the Government and ratepayers would fund the construction.
Dozens of properties in the Esk Valley were affected by the cyclone. Photo: / RNZ
Like Kendrick, Jayde Demanser lives in Pohutukawa Drive in Whirinaki.
She was a community representative working with the project team and said while she was grateful the businesses were trying to help, a solution was not a certainty.
“It still could go either way, so it’s still very stressful.
“Are we going to go through all this and then nothing’s going to get chosen?
“Are they going to go back and forth over costings, and then it not be viable, and then we’ll still be left?”
Demanser said once a flood protection option was proposed, it still had to be accepted by those who were funding it — the council, the Government, or both.
Then she feared there might not be enough money to carry it out.
