But since the cyclone it had turned its focus to getting displaced whānau into temporary housing (whare āwhina) by May 31, then back into their own houses by August 31.
Mr Te Aho, who has been involved in the housing sector and housing advocacy work for more than 30 years, is overseeing a $10 million fund to make that happen.
The funds were able to be made more quickly available than usual, thanks to the existing partnership between Toitu Tairāwhiti Housing Ltd and the Housing and Urban Development branch of Te Puni Kōkiri.
The money is going towards the construction of 50 unserviced temporary cabins by Toitu Tairāwhiti Builtsmart Limited and 50 fully serviced ones that are being brought in from outside the district.
Paired up, the units will provide temporary accommodation for displaced families — Māori and Pākehā — in Te Karaka, Uawa, Waipiro Bay, Te Puia Springs and Wairoa.
But Mr Te Aho says the council is getting in the way.
He almost had to cancel the delivery of some whare āwhina because he had not received, in time, floor level information that the council had promised.
“It shouldn’t be this hard but it constantly is with the Gisborne District Council,” Mr Te Aho said.
At times he had been unable to get either phone or email responses out of the council in a timely manner although he was grateful to councillor Aubrey Ria for stepping in to help, along with support from community lifelines director David Wilson, building services manager Ian Petty and solid waste manager Phil Nickerson this week.
Mr Wilson said GDC staff met (on Tuesday) with Mr Te Aho and Toitu Tairāwhiti Builtsmart to discuss their concerns.
They had agreed a process to expedite the building consenting process for the Toitu Tairāwhiti mahi, including coordinating works, increased inspection availability and partnering with Toitu to undertake moisture tests to speed the repairs process up.
“We look forward to working in partnership with Toitu to deliver the houses that our whānau need.
“We appreciate that a number of our whānau are tired and we are ensuring that we work as quickly as possible to support whānau getting back into their homes as soon as they can.”
Mr Te Aho appreciated this but criticised the council’s responsiveness and efficiency.
“We have raised this with ministers Kiri Allan and Minister Meka Whaitiri, Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Task Force chair Sir Brian Roche, and Independent Recovery commissioner Te Rau Kupenga.”
Iwi needed to be resourced to fulfil what the GDC couldn’t, he said.
That included site clean-up, a user-friendly process for disposing of waste from flooding and the ability to contract moisture testing services.
Up to this week, only one GDC tester had been available and only from 1.30pm to 3.30pm, Tuesday to Friday.
At best that person could only assess five houses per day.
At that rate it would take more than a month to get all affected houses tested, Mr Te Aho said.
An offer to extend to a full day and provide a moisture tester this week was welcomed by Mr Te Aho.
However, the council seemed to have “zero appreciation” of the fact many whānau had been living in motels for more than a month, he said.
“It’s not a system of our making. We may ‘brown’ it — it (the council) might be nice to us at the time but it will always act against us in the name of ‘we are here to represent all the community’.
“We need to disrupt this system that left our people on a hill to die and doesn’t prioritise us as a people.”
He was referring to the Te Karaka community — about 650 of whom had to take refuge on two hills above the town when the Waipaoa River flooded at about 2.30am the morning of the cyclone.
Most were still up there more than 24 hours later.
Mr Te Aho said that given what happened, “We will never work under or with NEMA (the National Emergency Management Agency) or CDEM (Civil Defence Emergency Management) ever again”.
“We can do all of this (emergency management) like we did in the Covid and vaccinations space, and are doing in the housing space. Give us the resourcing, remove barriers, and get out of our way.”
Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Group Controller Ben Green said the local Waikohu Civil Defence team were with the Te Karaka community during the evening including while whānau were isolated above Te Karaka.
“This evacuation to the hill would have saved lives and we commend the community for knowing what to do.
“Civil Defence groups are community volunteers that also include emergency services.
“For this event Te Karaka, along with a number of communities, endured a severe and substantial weather event that has directly and indirectly impacted everyone in Te Tairāwhiti on a par with Cyclone Bola.
“These situations are challenging and traumatic, especially given the widespread impact of the cyclone on utilities and lifelines.
“As such, the readiness and preparedness focus that is promoted is to ensure we all need to be prepared by having a grab bag with enough supplies that can provide support for up to 72 hours.
“Te Tairāwhiti has endured a significant number of severe weather events in the last two years. However, Cyclone Gabrielle has eclipsed these in terms of impact and damage.
“Te Karaka was cut off by the height of the floodwater, with no phone, radio or cellphone link for the first couple of days until a NZ Defence Force Unimog could get through with assistance.
“As is standard practice, we will be undertaking a review of the local, regional and national response as part of the debrief from the event and will look to build on the lessons learned from that process.”
