Hawke's Bay families grapple to put their lives back together following the destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. Video / Skye Clark / Supplied
Access issues and mental strain are still plaguing rural Hawke’s Bay communities almost three months after Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the region.
Farmers in Tūtira alongside State Highway 2 north of Napier are growing increasingly frustrated with the travel obstacles they continue to face, with a bridge yet to be installed connecting the highway through to Wairoa and only time-dependent access to the south.
It’s adding to concern about the mental health of farmers who are dealing with kilometres of broken fencing, destroyed culverts and decimated tracks.
The Hawke’s Bay Today reported the installation of a bailey bridge at Waikare Gorge between Wairoa and Napier had been delayed from the end of April to the end of May due to “poor weather and supply challenges”.
Sue Maxwell, who manages a sheep stud farm alongside her husband Graeme, told the Herald roading issues had been a growing source of tension for those in her community, particularly after a bailey bridge was completed in Rissington about a month ago.
Tūtira sheep stud farmer Sue Maxwell. Photo / Adam Pearse
The isolating impact from such issues was not as much of a concern for Maxwell, compared with what she interpreted as general inaction to fix the roading for her community.
“I’ve been threatening to get in the car and not come back.
“All of this inactivity and b******t has really got to me, I just feel like we’re not achieving anything.”
Hallmark Angus Stud’s Max Tweedie, speaking from his 300-hectare sheep and beef farm in Tūtira, said the lack of a bridge at Waikare had been a sore point for some impacted by being cut off from Wairoa.
“It’s kind of ridiculous that we’re talking about a main road,” he said.
“It seems like [we’re] the last bloody cab off the rank and this is the main highway.”
Heading south to Napier was possible but not easy. If residents wanted to avoid a 2.5-hour drive through SH5, they had to fit in with scheduled times when residents only could drive through the Devil’s Elbow on SH2 between Whirinaki and Tūtira.
However, Tweedie noted the partial access had limited farm repair work, citing an instance when costly fencers were left with little work to do after supplies had been held up.
Tūtira farmer Max Tweedie. Photo / Supplied
Just as pressing for Tweedie was the cyclone’s impact on the farm with between five to six kilometres of fencing down, culverts gone and tracks unusable by motorbike.
While the cost would be substantial, the 29-year-old was worried about the mental health of farmers in similar positions, particularly those closer to the end of their careers.
“There’s a fair bit of pressure on people here at the moment and they’re probably bottling it up, but there’s, a whole heap of pretty tired fellas.
“I probably feel most of those guys who went through Cyclone Bola at the start of their careers and now at the other end of it .. they get smacked with [Gabrielle], right before they’re looking to pass on the farm or sell or something like that and then they’ll never repair their life’s work before they can retire.”
