Napier compost company BioRich given $1m boost as PM visits Hawke’s Bay

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins flanked by new Napier Labour candidate Mark Hutchinson (left) and Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty at BioRich in Awatoto. Photo / Paul Taylor

A large compost company on the outskirts of Napier looked as if it would have to close for almost a year when floods tore through the site in February.

BioRich in Awatoto received a $1 million Government funding boost on Wednesday to get its operation back on its feet and stop organic waste from going to landfill. It has even begun receiving green waste again much quicker than first thought.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the company to make the funding announcement and was joined by new Napier Labour candidate Mark Hutchinson – who is looking to win the electorate in October – among other politicians.

It was part of a descent of political power on Hawke’s Bay as Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni also visited to announce a Jobs and Skills Hub aimed at getting jobseekers into cyclone recovery jobs. Construction of the hub will officially begin in July.

Hipkins also visited Flaxmere Pharmacy to speak to pharmacists about the Government’s decision to drop a $5 co-payment fee on prescription medication.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (right) talks to Flaxmere Pharmacy co-owner Tim Klingender and Tukituki Labour MP Anna Lorck. Photo / Warren Buckland

But his biggest announcement of the day was at Awatoto, where almost $1m was given to BioRich from the Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund.

“[That] will help them get back up and running as fast as possible because they have a role to play in helping the clean-up across the Bay, and also making sure we can deal with organic waste here in Hawke’s Bay,” Hipkins said.

BioRich turns about 100,000 tonnes of organic waste, including green waste, animal and food waste, into compost each year. The waste would otherwise be sent to landfill.

BioRich owner Mike Glazebrook said the $1m would be a huge help for its recovery.

”It has just given us the confidence to get up and get going. A couple of months ago [after the cyclone] we were thinking, ‘Oh man, I guess we will get going again eventually but probably not until next year’.

BioRich in Awatoto, just outside Napier, received almost $1 million on Wednesday to get back on its feet after flooding in February. Photo / Paul Taylor

“But [this funding] has given us the confidence to get stuck into it and get it up and running as soon as we can and build it back better and more resilient.”

Earlier in the day, Flaxmere Pharmacy co-owner Tim Klingender spoke to Hipkins about the change to the $5 co-payment fee for prescription medicines, which will them cheaper for customers.

Flaxmere local Rebecca Heather said she needed her prescription to stay alive.

”Every week I come and pick it up and once a month I pay $20,” she said. The fee will be dropped in July.

Hipkins confirmed that “around 1 per cent” of prescription medication on the Pharmac-subsidised list had a higher $15 co-payment fee, which would remain.

On zoning decisions and further cyclone support packages, Hipkins acknowledged that “there is a frustration around wanting certainty” for many people and “we are working as fast as we can to supply people with certainty”.