Clean-up continues a year on after Cyclone Gabrielle

A March 2023 picture of the pile of woody debris removed from city beaches and taken to Judds yard in MacDonald road to be chipped. A $10m plant, which turns wood chips and biosolids like treated sewage sludge into a compost blend, started operating at Judds in August of last year.Siteworx Civil picture

Almost a year on from Cyclone Gabrielle the region has received another multimillion-dollar boost to ongoing and mounting clean-up costs.

The Government announced on Sunday that Gisborne District Council would receive $23.6 million to ensure urgent work will continue for the removal and processing woody debris across the region.

Another $40 million is going to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council for urgent work to continue to remove sediment and debris in the region, including $3m ring-fenced for debris removal in Wairoa.

“This Government is fully committed to the recovery and we are working with local authorities to identify how we can make it go faster,” Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell said.

To date, nearly 165,000 tonnes of woody debris had been removed from Tairāwhiti, he said.

East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick said the funding was welcome news for those still waiting for funding to be secured.

“It has been a stressful and worrying time for many who were not sure whether they would get some financial help.

“It is also important that the woody debris clean-up is continued and completed as much as possible. It has taken some time but the Government is committed to the cyclone recovery and there is significant work being done in housing, roading recovery and resilience planning.

“I look forward to working with the local iwi, council and recovery organisations to get our regional economy back up and running.”

The funding is on top of that announced last year by the previous Government, which included $10.5m for the clean-up of slash and debris in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay.

Later in the year it also announced a $204m cyclone recovery package for Gisborne, which has since been adopted by the council.

A report to the council’s  Civil Defence Emergency Management committee this week estimates additional funding of $117m is required to clear woody debris across the region.