Comparing the two years, it cost about $95/cu m of wood removed in 2024, while it cost an average of $179.52/cu m of wood removed in 2025.
All costs as of last year were externally funded, with none coming from the council’s operating budget.
Woody debris programme manager Rod Sheridan said extraction work at the outset of the programme had focused on high-volume, concentrated accumulations and easily accessible woody debris removal.
“As the work moved into catchments upstream with lower, more distributed volumes and more difficult extraction conditions, the costs increased. This woody debris also presents a risk to life and property and is the reason the extraction continued,” Sheridan said.
“The increase in cost was in part due to the need to avoid environmental impacts, which made the extraction process more complex – rather than less wood to clean up or less work commissioned.
“Taking action to reduce the amount of [large woody debris] entering rivers and washing up on beaches and preventing future issues form[s] part of a long-term solution, but doesn’t account for what’s already sitting in our catchments.
Sheridan said the clean-up and work to reduce risks would need to continue for some time before the region would see less woody debris in the rivers and beaches.
As for the recent severe weather event in the Matakāoa area, Sheridan said the council’s focus remained on the immediate response, and staff had not yet undertaken an assessment as of the start of this month.
In its Three-Year Plan, Gisborne District Council budgeted an additional $2.7m over 2024–2027 towards immediate response and clearing of critical areas as needed on an ongoing basis.
This funding is collected from a targeted rate on forestry properties, an approach supported by 76% of submissions during consultation for the plan.
Current and ongoing debris clean-up work
Beach clean-ups at Waikanae, Midway, Kaiti, Makorori, Ūawa, Whāngārā, Tikapa, Rangitukia, Anaura and Tokomaru Bay had removed 106,534cu m of woody debris as of December 2025.
Work to address remaining debris in the Ūawa, Waiapu, Waipaoa and northern catchments is due to begin in early 2026.
The council said scoping of a 4km section of the Waimatā River (from Waimata Cheese factory in Riverside Rd to William Pettie Bridge at the city end of Ormond Rd) had begun, with work also expected to begin in the next one to two months to clear debris from riverbanks.
That work was being completed with the $54m in allocated government funding from recovery for sediment and debris.
The council said $24m of that was spent in the 2024/2025 financial year.
“Historically, [the] council had spent around $200,000 per year on regular annual beach clean-ups, which increased since 2022 with more frequent events to $360,000 in addition to clean-up contributions by the forestry industry,” a council spokeswoman said.
“A further $27m in funding has been received from MPI [the Ministry for Primary Industries]. This portion will be allocated to treat woody debris in forests on the most vulnerable and erosion-prone land in the region, where there is a high risk to communities and critical infrastructure.”
Work in two forests in the Te Arai and Waimatā catchments was at the pre-consent stage in January.
Engagement was underway with other forestry companies that met the eligibility criteria and that weren’t under Environment Court action or abatement notice.
The work is guided by the Tairāwhiti Forestry Action Group (TFA Group), which was created in August 2024 by Forestry Minister Todd McClay and brings together representatives from the MPI, the district council, iwi and industry to accelerate the clean-up of woody debris after Cyclone Gabrielle.
