The last stages are due to be completed by the end of May, to the relief of owners who have faced access and insurance issues while the work has been going on.<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay Regional Council advised property owners, including Grant and Kate Davison, of the changes last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cCyclone Gabrielle flooded our entire property under more than a metre of floodwater,\u201d Grant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor close to two years, we couldn\u2019t come home because of the uncertainty around our future here. <\/p>\n
\u201cLiving under Category 2C has been tough. We didn\u2019t know when we\u2019d be fully out of the woods, and we were having to make decisions about our future in the hope that this day would come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay Regional Council staff (from left) Te Kaha Hawaikirangi, Kim Thomas and project manager Dugan Weitz. Thomas and Weitz went to each of the 11 homes to deliver the news that the category 2C restriction had been lifted. Photo \/ HBRC<\/p>\n
The properties at \u014chiti Rd have now been removed from the FOSAL framework and no longer carry a risk category.<\/p>\n
HBRC councillor Jerf van Beek said it was a meaningful step forward for the \u014chiti Rd home owners. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis brings these households something they\u2019ve been without for a long time: certainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t prevent extreme weather, and we can\u2019t say that flooding will never happen again. But we can say the risk has been brought down to a level people can live with, and that this is being backed by stronger, more resilient infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The land categorisation process, introduced by the Labour Government after Cyclone Gabrielle, was a key part of the wider FOSAL programme and identified communities facing the highest risk, particularly where there was a realistic infrastructure pathway to reduce that risk.<\/p>\n
The \u014cm\u0101hu homes were hit by an unprecedented volume of water from the Ohiwia Stream, but now have protection within the region\u2019s wider $256.5 million flood resilience programme, funded 75 per cent by the Government through National Infrastructure Funding and Financing(NIFF) and 25 per cent by HBRC. <\/p>\n
Van Beek said it was the outcome the Government, HBRC and the community had been working towards. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why investment in flood resilience is so important. <\/p>\n
\u201cNot just to repair what was damaged but to give communities a way forward. At \u014chiti Rd-\u014cm\u0101hu, that path ahead is now visible in the infrastructure on the ground, and in the greater certainty this brings for local people.\u201d<\/p>\n
HBRC chairwoman Sophie Siers said the work now visible illustrated how substantial the flood resilience response had to be. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a major piece of infrastructure in a challenging location, and the community can now see the scale of what is being built.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith construction in its final stages, this recategorisation outcome marks real progress. It shows the post-Gabrielle response is no longer just a plan, but something real on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
She acknowledged the tremendous effort of everyone involved, especially lead contractors CHB Earthmovers and the \u201cwider project team beside them\u201d.<\/p>\n
She also acknowledged the resilience and resolve of the \u014chiti Rd-\u014cm\u0101hu community, and a partnership with Te Piringa hap\u016b.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a long road and we would not be where we are now without their manaakitanga [care] and kotahitanga [collective drive].\u201d<\/p>\n
For the property owners, it\u2019s not merely a project milestone, but a deeply personal one. Grant Davison said, \u201cDugan [Weitz, HBRC project manager] came around and personally gave us the letter with the good news. It was a great relief to finally have closure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kate Davison added, \u201cAfter waiting this long, we thought the day would never come. It is a wonderful result.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said to my husband, \u2018We should frame the letter and put it on the wall.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The last stages are due to be completed by the end of May, to the relief of owners…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,1558,182312,94642,1259,33959,22972,24925,19876,123079,71,33960,1333,2518,305,1976,1345,6804,182311,1132,111,43,139,69,9769,3263,1356,12879,54895,1519,2069,61],"class_list":["post-341292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-been","tag-categorised","tag-cluster","tag-community","tag-cyclone","tag-eleven","tag-flood","tag-flooding","tag-freed","tag-from","tag-gabrielle","tag-get","tag-green","tag-have","tag-hawkes","tag-home","tag-light","tag-mhu","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-owners","tag-project","tag-properties","tag-resilience","tag-restrictions","tag-risks","tag-stay","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}