Angry residents in cut-off Karekare on Auckland's west coast feel forgotten, passenger and freight train collide in Greece killing dozens & prosecutions continue one year on from Parliament protest in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
The Government is deploying Bailey bridges across six sites in the North Island to reconnect isolated communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods, says Transport Minister Michael Wood.
Bailey bridges are temporary, portable, pre-fabricated bridges, first employed by the British military during World War II and frequently used in disaster relief efforts.
The sites reserved with design work and preparation under way include:
⋅ The Rissington Bridge on Puketitiri Rd, Rissington with a 54-metre Bailey proposed;
⋅ The Waikare River Bridge on State Highway 2 with a 42m Bailey proposed;
“We’ve been able to use Bailey bridges as an interim measure to reconnect communities while longer term solutions to damaged bridges are explored. Works are underway on three bridges, with a further three completed.
“The quick roll-out of the Bailey bridges has been enabled by the Government’s $250 million top-up to the National Land Transport fund, and of course, the work and dedication of the contractors. I want to thank everyone who has been working on the ground to get these connections restored.
“We’ve moved quickly with the support of NZDF assets to get Bailey bridges into the hardest hit regions and restore pivotal transport routes for the communities.
“We’ll continue to work with local councils to identify where Bailey bridges could help restore essential transportation links, and are currently assessing the suitability of sites in Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti for further Bailey bridges.
“Bailey bridges are only one of the tools we’re using to reconnect communities in the short term. Other options including diversions through private property, single lane access, and speed or weight restrictions are also being considered. As we work through suitability assessments we’ll have a clearer idea of what resources are best suited to meet communities’ needs.
“We have a large job ahead to determine the extent of which state and local roads can be rebuilt and which cannot or should not be replaced.
“This work will take some time, and so the Government’s focus has been to install interim measures while more permanent and resilient solutions are put in place,” Michael Wood said.
Wood told a press conference there was enough stock of Bailey bridges to do what was needed. About 20-30 local bridges needed repairs.
Wood’s press conference was supposed to be livestreamed but a poor connection from Twyford in rural Hawke’s Bay meant only a few minutes came through.
Bailey bridges over the Rangitopuni Stream in the Auckland area, Raparapahoe Stream in Western Bay of Plenty and Opoiti Bridge in Wairoa had already beeninstalled in response to the Auckland Anniversary floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
Transport Minister Michael Wood is set to reveal further details about Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti’s cyclone-ravaged roading network as many communities are still battling the isolating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods are also in Hawke’s Bay with the latter meeting accommodation providers and power companies as the region recovers from what’s been deemed the worst natural disaster in a generation.
Wood will be appearing at the Hawke’s Bay site of engineering, infrastructure management and construction services provider Downer, to check in on the company’s efforts to erect temporary bridges to reconnect isolated communities.
The damage to Napier’s link to Taupō - State Highway 5 - has also grown in recent days following further rain. A slip in the road that had originally impacted about half of one lane had since extended to the entire road in an area between Te Pōhue and Glengarry.
Roading was just one of the concerns for locals on the North Island’s east coast as they attempt to rebuild their lives after Cyclone Gabrielle hit last month.
Crime has also been a hotly contested issue. About 200 people turned up at the Crab Farm Winery in Napier’s Bay View for a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss concerns about looting.
Residents spoke of encountering intruders, RNZ reported.
One man said someone had been in the bedroom and living room in his home, and had shone a torch into the children’s room. Others said they felt unsafe over what appeared to be would-be looters scoping out their properties.
One resident was shaken to see motorcyclists videoing property outside his home, while a woman said it was disconcerting to see patched gang members walking up her street.
One account of roadworkers being presented with firearms was initially disputed by Hipkins but he has since had to apologise and admit police gave him incorrect information.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster fronted the mistake, telling the Herald the incident wasn’t logged correctly and therefore wasn’t included in Hipkins’ police briefing ahead of the Prime Minister’s post-Cabinet press conference on February 20.
“The lesson for me in this is where we have people strongly asserting that something occurred, then there needs to be an extra layer of checking to validate that or not,” Coster told the Herald.
“We had a range of things being reported in the community, many of which appear to have been simply untrue, so sifting between those things is not necessarily all that easy.”
The incident has deepened resentment within Hawke’s Bay that the response from police and the Government to claims of looting were cold and focused too heavily on the fact that reported crime had remained steady for the region, despite obvious impacts on communication caused by the cyclone.
Hipkins on Thursday said he regretted his role in that and speaking to RNZ, Coster accepted his observations were “unhelpful” for communities fearful of looters.
Like with any natural disaster, police officials would soon review police’s role in the recovery and Coster said he wanted to investigate how officers weren’t able to make people feel safe, despite sending in 145 additional officers to the district.
“We haven’t been able to create the kind of assurance around safety that some communities have been seeking and I think we have to acknowledge it’s completely understandable for people to be feeling fearful at this time,” he said.
“We’ve had a significant police presence on the ground but for whatever reason, we haven’t been able to create that assurance, that’s an area that I’m keen to dig into and better understand whether there’s anything we could have done differently to create a greater sense of safety for the communities affected.”
