The Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter crew attempt a rooftop rescue of a woman and child in Esk Valley during Cyclone Gabrielle. Video /
Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter Trust
A proposal to make some cyclone-hit homeowners pay tens of thousands of dollars to demolish their own homes has hit a hurdle, after Hastings District Council failed to reach a decision on the policy change.
One homeowner slammed the proposal as “flawed and unfair” before councillors debated the policy change during an at-times emotional council meeting on Thursday.
Councillors were split on whether to back the plan and Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst ended the debate by stating “I am going to leave this item on the table” for another day.
“We need to have some more information from questions that have been raised that the officers haven’t been able to answer,” she said.
“We need to do some more work on this. We are not going to adopt a policy on the hop.”
It is unclear when the item will be back before the council.
If adopted, the policy change would see the council save up to $2 million while between 80 and 90 property owners in Category 3 areas would contribute between $20,000 and $30,000 on average each, to help cover the cost of demolishing their homes.
The decision applies to homeowners in Category 3 areas who plan on accepting a voluntary buyout in the future but are yet to receive an offer.
Hastings District Council and Napier City Council are in the process of offering voluntary buyouts to homeowners in the highest flood-risk areas (Category 3).
If homeowners accept a buyout offer the dwelling will be demolished after the buyouts are settled.
About 140 properties are eligible for a buyout offer, mainly in Esk Valley, Tangoio, Dartmoor, Rissington and Pakowhai, with about 80 to 90 property owners impacted by the policy change, according to council papers.
The council wants to demolish the homes to remove any risk of someone living in them if another severe flood like the one caused by Cyclone Gabrielle hit, which killed eight people in Hawke’s Bay one year ago.
Originally, the cost of the demolition exercise was going to be solely worn by the councils, at an estimated cost exceeding $6m.
Homes in Esk Valley, north of Napier, in the days after the February 2023 cyclone. Photo / Warren Buckland
However, Hastings District Council considered an amendment to its buyout policy on Thursday.
The amendment would “enable the council to recover a contribution from property owners, in certain cases, towards the cost of demolishing a dwelling”, council papers stated.
“It seems fair that since property owners are likely being compensated [by insurers] for the cost of demolition - which they will not incur the costs for - that some of this benefit should pass to the council,” council papers stated.
Napier City Council - which has far fewer Category 3 homes than neighbouring Hastings - will consider the same policy amendment at an upcoming council meeting.
The amendment would see both insured and uninsured property owners make a contribution toward demolition.
Eskdale resident Dan Gale, who owns Eskdale Holiday Park, which was severely flooded in the cyclone, spoke against the plans during the meeting.
“We are tired, frustrated, and angry, as HDC tell us one thing, do another, and shift the goalposts on people that have already lost so much,” he said, of the proposal.
“I’d like to acknowledge all of the cyclone-affected families that have been devastated by this event, and to state that our community’s disgust at the timing of this flawed and unfair policy right before the one-year anniversary has heightened emotions.”
Councillors who supported the move cited the impact it would have on all ratepayers if the council - which is nearing $400m in debt - wore the full cost of demolition estimated to be over $6m.
