Dennis Raines’ Thornton Bay home was so badly damaged after a major slip smashed into the back of it that it had to be red-stickered. Photo Karl Williams
Dennis Raines’ Thornton Bay home was so badly damaged after a major slip smashed into the back of it that it had to be red-stickered. Photo Karl Williams
Thames Coromandel District Council has been approved to receive $1.3 million to fund slip stabilisation work in Thornton Bay, on the Thames Coast, from the Government’s Cyclone Recovery Unit Local Government Flood Co-investment Fund.
Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread destruction across the peninsula last summer, including Dennis Raines’ Thornton Bay home. It was so badly damaged after a major slip smashed into the back of it that it had to be red-stickered.
Raines’ son Clive told the NZ Herald the insurance payout he received was not enough to fund a rebuild so they had decided to sell the property “as is, where is” with a $1 reserve. Raines subsequently purchased a unit in Thames in which to live.
Raine’s former property, in a sought-after part of the Thames Coast Road, later sold for $375,000. Another home, which sits above Raines’, was also teetering on the edge of the cliff.
Last March, then Prime Minister Chris Hipkins visited the Thornton Bay property and surrounding areas to assess the storm-ravaged region’s infrastructure first-hand, concluding: “We know we have a big job ahead of us.”
Chris Hipkins visited the Coromandel in MarCH 2023 to see the destruction left by Cyclone Gabrielle.
TCDC said there was a continued risk to private properties and public infrastructure including roading, freshwater, stormwater, and wastewater networks, and telecommunications and power networks because of land instability in the area.
Council chief executive Aileen Lawrie said it was “fantastic to receive news from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) about the funding commitment”.
“This funding is a significant contribution towards the design and construction of an engineered solution to stabilise the complex area affected by the slip. This will go a long way to alleviate anxiety for our local residents by adding much-needed resilience to the properties and infrastructure located above the slip site which are at risk from land instability issues.”
“The work will help stabilise the slope and provide significant protection to the properties and infrastructure, to a higher standard than existed before last year’s storms. The project aligns with the work outlined in our Recovery Plan published last year, in particular the ‘fit-for-purpose infrastructure (resilient)’ work stream,” Lawrie said.
The primary goals of the council’s workstream are to restore, repair, build back, enhance resilience, and take care of the community and its well-being.
The actions to achieve those work streams were set out in the Recovery Plan. They are predominantly geared towards meeting the intermediate needs of all affected communities, such as clean-up, repairing the transport network, reopening tracks and accessways, repairing homes and properties, supporting the wider economy and rural sectors, and providing well-being support to those affected.
TCDC said its funding application was among 35 received from councils affected by last year’s North Island Weather Events. A total of $73.7 million was applied for, from a fund with $42.1m to allocate. Councils in the Waikato region submitted applications for $22.535m, of which $5.666m was approved.
“We congratulate Waikato Regional Council for the approval of $3.3 million funding for flood resilience work in several parts of the region, including the Coromandel,” Lawrie said.
