Roading recovery reduced in Tairāwhiti as council negotiates with Government

Tauwhareparae Road inland from Tolaga Bay has been hard hit by land subsidence at the 18 kilometre and 37km marks. Picture supplied

Cyclone-related roading recovery has been pared back in Tairāwhiti as Gisborne District Council waits on central government to stump up on promised funding.

Local Democracy Reporting has obtained a copy of an email from  Nigel Pollock, Downer’s regional manager for Gisborne and Wairoa, outlining the situation.

In the email sent to roading, construction, engineering and transportation businesses, Mr Pollock quotes the council as saying its funding is currently being negotiated, during which time recovery work would be prioritised to public safety and the reinstatement of primary access.

All work related to recovery needed to be scoped and presented for review and approval, the council said, with the new rules coming into place on August 21.

Downer is a major contractor for the regional authority, and in turn subcontracts to third parties.

Mr Pollock’s email was sent to 12 affected parties, but the changes are expected to have a far wider impact.

McCannics construction company owner Robbie McCann said the withdrawal of work would have a ripple effect for many businesses throughout the region, including his.

Although McCannics did not contract directly to the council, a lot of his work came from businesses that did, and he believed thousands of people could be affected.

“It’s indirect for me but it has a flow- on effect, and that’s probably the biggest thing,” McCann said.

“We’re not actually getting stuff done fast enough anyway.”

A spokesperson for Currie Construction said his company pulled out its workers the Monday following the announcement, but was remaining philosophical.

“It’s the nature of it. (You’ve) got to be prepared for this stuff.”

Mr Pollock’s email to affected contractors labelled the situation as “frustrating” because of the amount of work that lay in front of them.

“This is not a position that Downer or GDC (Gisborne District Council) wish to be, but I do request that we support them as they continue their task of negotiating funding to continue the great work we are all doing,” Mr Pollock wrote.

Downer had no further knowledge of when things would change, he added.

Council acting director of lifelines Dave Hadfield told Local Democracy Reporting the slowdown of cyclone-related work should not come as a surprise.

The council’s contractors had completed $60 million of emergency repairs over the past six months and all ongoing work would be tendered to the open market.

“This is how council works. The transition phase is always tough however this has been communicated at contract meetings for some time now.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have an endless bucket of money . . . At this time, I can’t provide a timeframe as to when the final recovery funding will be announced.”

Mr Hadfield said bridge repairs would continue, and contractors would focus on urgent maintenance work such as pothole repairs and heavy metalling.