Mayor Kirsten Wise says Napier is a city built on triumph over adversity. Photo / NZME
Recovery from the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle will look different for everyone affected.
Every household, every group and organisation, every neighbourhood and every individual will have responded in a different way.
Their recovery too will be specific to them and their needs.
Our thinking about recovery started almost as soon as our response to the cyclone, but a month ago we began to closely examine what recovery means for us, our people, our built spaces, our environment and our economy.
For communities, and for the councils that serve them, there will be a need for a coordinated approach to ensure pace is set and maintained, alongside well-planned milestones that give opportunities for review, response and recalibration.
Across the board, there will be a need for collaboration, and an overarching view of the whole region as well as a nuanced approach to the needs of particular communities.
Napier is geographically compact but a heavy hitter when it comes to the economy.
We are a top destination for events, tourism and business, and for people looking for a safe, healthy, vibrant place to raise their kids, find work-life balance and enjoy recreational activities.
We are also a city built on triumph over adversity.
The architecture and cityscapes we are known for came out of an attitude that removed barriers to rebuilding, that identified opportunities not obstacles.
What gave Napier an edge was individuals who were invested mentally, emotionally and personally in what a new Napier could and would look like.
Central too was community voice and ideas, and an innovative, contemporary spirit that could envisage what was possible when it came to rebuilding.
When we build back we need to take time to look far out into the future to ensure we are making a city that can withstand environmental impacts and keep our people and our places safe.
Our community, mana whenua and iwi, neighbouring councils, the Crown and the business sector all have roles and responsibilities in the recovery journey.
In building our future, all voices must be heard, not as an adjunct to decision making, but as an essential element.
Challenges that face us now give us an opportunity to invest in the future of our city and region.
Out of the destruction dealt by the cyclone and subsequent flooding we must now build back better, safer and smarter.
Whatever comes next must be fit-for-purpose infrastructure and lifelines that address climate resilience and adaptation, and build a stronger economy.
As cyclone recovery work across the region begins, our own recovery structure is taking shape in the form of a dedicated Recovery Directorate.
This group is in the process of determining its form, functions and accountabilities.
The recovery programme will be intertwined with our Long-Term Plan so we can tie together consultation processes and make it streamlined for people’s voices and ideas to be heard.
Front and centre in our thinking about recovery is ensuring the community is at the core of our decision making.
We must bring the whole community on the recovery journey with us to build a future where every household and every family is able to thrive.
Our first task is to prepare a locality plan, which will feed into a regional recovery plan.
The timeline is tight, we are required to submit our initial plan by the end of April, but what’s been asked for is just a preliminary, short-term view that takes us to mid-August 2023.
We will be engaging with local voices in this initial plan but, for region-wide decision making to happen, each local authority needs to clearly articulate their immediate priorities quickly.
Most importantly there will be further opportunities down the track for all parts of our community to be heard.
Our locality plan will lay out the decisions that need to be made for a successful recovery.
It will also state how actions will be delivered and paid for, and outline the particular needs of our community and our immediate priorities in meeting those needs.
Across the region, the broad focus for the first six months of recovery has six key areas: access to financial relief, housing, infrastructure repairs, flood protection repairs, community welfare, and care for local farmers, growers and businesses.
Recovery for Napier, and for the wider Hawke’s Bay region, will be a long and complex journey.
For some people, the full extent of the damage is not yet known, and some are still working through the immediate impacts.
Thinking has already begun though on recovery.
At a national and a regional level, recovery is under way, and we need to signal our initial, short-term priorities quickly so as a region we can begin our rebuild as soon as we can.
- Kirsten Wise is Napier Mayor