Significant help needed for Category 3 damaged properties

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz says the region needs “significant help” as it recovers from eight severe weather events across a 20-month period.

Her comments follow the Thursday announcement that the Government would stump up cash to help Gisborne District Council buy out 17 homeowners in areas where there was a risk from further flooding.

Those homes, deemed Category 3, are in locations where the risk of severe weather events in the future cannot be sufficiently mitigated.

They join an estimated 700 properties across the country which are considered unliveable following Cyclone Gabrielle and Auckland Anniversary Weekend flooding.

In a written statement, Stoltz said the council was working closely with the Government to get answers for the community.

“We understand what a complex task the Government has ahead of it and that the rules they develop will have to be applied nationwide,” she said.

“For our residents whose homes have been affected by the Category 3 news, it is bittersweet.

“For many, it’s a relief and gives some certainty.”

The cost of buying Category 3 properties would be shared between the Government and councils.

Homes designated Category 2 — where interventions are feasible to manage future risk — will also receive help from both the Government and councils to help build flood protection and resilience.

Gisborne District Council has said it would not have the number of Category 2 properties for some time.

Down the road in Wairoa, no properties have been given Category 3 status, but 684 are deemed Category 2.

Mayor Stoltz said preliminary maps showing affected areas would be available at the end of next week.

“We’ll be working closely with the Government to get more clarity because we understand that people want to move fast.

“And we need to get our residents the best possible solution, because as a community, we deserve to move forward.”

Fourteen of the 17 homes deemed Category 3 in Tairāwhiti are in Gisborne city.