It was not perfect, but “we have navigated through this”.
She had received extensive community feedback about “people in our recovery office” who were working day to day with Category 3 residents.
Those residents were hurting and had many questions, but often there had been no clear answers.
“Sometimes they just needed an ear.”
Councillors went out in the community and received questions they often did not have answers to, because “this is a situation we have not navigated before”.
“I think in 10 or 15 years’ time, we will look back at the way we treated our community, and we will be able to say, in the toughest time, we walked a very imperfect journey with them, but we walked with them, and did the best we could.”
Staff were in a situation “we have never negotiated before”.
The buyout programme is a $204 million all-or-nothing Government support package negotiated with Gisborne District Council after Cyclone Gabrielle and includes funding measures to improve resilience in future severe weather events.
The council will provide one-off funding of $21.4m which will increase debt in the 2024-2027 part of its 10-year plan by the same amount.
The Government will pay 50 percent of costs for purchasing Category 3 properties, or relocation, and the council the other 50 percent — so 100 percent of a house’s value, insured or uninsured, will be paid.
Mayor Stoltz said mayoral colleagues in Auckland and Hawke’s Bay were envious of Gisborne’s negotiated deal.
Auckland Category 3 residents will be paid “at least 80 percent” if their property is not insured.
It is estimated there are 51 Category 3 properties in Tairāwhiti with at least three being whenua Māori.
Category 3 properties were identified based on whether properties faced an intolerable risk to life from flooding or land movement, and where there was no ability to feasibly mitigate future risks.
The categorisation of land was undertaken by the council.
The Government, rather than council, is funding compensation in relation to Māori land under its Kaupapa Māori Pathway, where Māori landowners elect to participate in that process.
The report before councillors yesterday stated there were likely to be similar weather events in the future, but described the voluntary buyout programme as a one-off and not a precedent.
Councillor Andy Cranston said he disagreed.
It would set a precedent.
The council was now facing a considerable extra cost without any additional funding.
That compared to the Government receiving extra funding from agencies such as ACC and the Earthquake Commission (ECQ).
He wanted to prepare a remit for Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) recommending that such policies include provision for a council levy fund, “so that we have income so we can handle our side of what we’re doing”.
“We’re handling what we’re doing with no income on our side.”
It was all right for the Government — “they’ve got income coming in”.
Mayor Stoltz asked staff to remind her when it was time to prepare remits for the LGNZ annual conference.
