Hawke’s Bay Regional Council appoints Cyclone Recovery Committee as repairs proceed

Rapid repair work undertaken at the Springfield Road stopbank breach along the Tūtaekurī River. Photo / Warren Buckland

Rapid repairs on six more stopbank sites have been completed this week as flood infrastructure restoration proceeds at pace.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) formally approved the formation of a new Cyclone Recovery Committee in a meeting on Wednesday.

The new committee picks up responsibilities around policy development and environmental monitoring and research from the Environment and Integrated Catchments Committee.

It will be chaired by Sophie Siers, who said the committee will focus on the initial recovery and also look to the future to ensure that decisions are serving the long-term intergenerational needs of the community.

“This event has left the region in no doubt that planning for future development is critical. The infrastructure that has served us so well for decades now needs to be considered from new perspectives,” Siers said.

Chris Dolley, HBRC asset management group manager, said in a statement on Wednesday that stopbank repairs are a focus along the Ngaruroro, Tūtaekurī and Waipawa rivers.

“Our team has completed rapid temporary repairs of six sites – Awatoto, Taradale, lower Brookfields, Omahu, Maraenui golf course and established a site at Powdrell Rd to stockpile material for the repair of stopbanks,” Dolley said.

HBRC and Hastings District Council teams are working to clear woody debris and silt along the Tūtaekurī river, from Redcliffe (Waiohiki), Brookfields and the motorway bridges and are continuing to remove material from the Waitangi rail bridge.

Work is ongoing to replace the stopbank at Walker Rd where the Waipawa River breach occurred, along with stopbank breaches along the Mangaonuku stream in Central Hawke’s Bay.

Teams are clearing trees and debris from regional council drains in northern Hawke’s Bay. A new pump will be installed in the Ohuia Scheme.

Teams had completed maintenance on 70 per cent of drains that required it after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Rapid repairs on six more stopbank sites have been completed by HBRC contractors this week and stopbank repairs are a focus along the Ngaruroro, Tūtaekurī and Waipawa rivers. Photo / Warren Buckland

A statement from the council said climate resilience and an increase in tangata whenua representation, to ensure complete coverage of the affected areas across the region, will be important considerations for the Cyclone Recovery Committee.

The committee’s primary responsibility will be the oversight of the development and implementation of the Regional Council’s Resilience Plan.

The plan will be a part of the work required by the Regional Recovery Agency and will inform the locality plans of other councils.

It will also help make recommendations to HBRC on work programmes to support the recovery of the environment.

Louise McPhail, the recently appointed HBRC recovery manager, will lead the development of the HBRC’s Resilience Plan.

A regional council report from earlier in March said there were over 1,000 red and yellow-stickered properties and estimated 2000 displaced people across the region.

The gap between the predictions and the observed amount of rainfall for Cyclone Gabrielle varied across the area monitored by HBRC, but figures across the board were fairly consistently above average across all HBRC stations, 36.86 per cent higher on average.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council estimates about 8000 sheep carcasses were collected and disposed of after the cyclone.

During Cyclone Gabrielle, a river flow between 1400-2000cu m/sec was measured at the Esk River.

Dolley said the council still needed to conduct a proper analysis of the river flow to show the average frequency, but this will be the highest river flow recorded in the Esk River by HBRC once verified.

“The previous highest flow record for the region, was in the Esk valley, at Waipunga bridge in March 2018, at around 1100 cubic metres per second,” Dolley said.