A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said on Tuesday 88 potholes had been reported and repaired across their rural and urban roading network. Photo / Paul Taylor
A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said on Tuesday 88 potholes had been reported and repaired across their rural and urban roading network. Photo / Paul Taylor
More than 500 potholes in Hawke's Bay might not be as many as there were in Blackburn when John Lennon wrote his famous ditty, but they could have a big impact on council finances.
Intense weather, including considerable rainfall and even snow, as well as regular earthquake movement, is beingblamed for the array of potholes, slips and slumps emerging within a relatively short period across the region's rural and urban roads.
Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker said that in the past two weeks the number of slips across her district had increased to 55 and the council roading crew had repaired 458 potholes in a single week.
She describes the weather as "more than annoying rain", and estimated that the region has not seen resulting roading conditions like it for more than 50 years.
"After weeks of torrential rainfall, wind and even earthquakes, there's roading damage on a scale we've rarely seen out there, and it's getting worse - as everyone who lives in Central Hawke's Bay and travels our roads knows," she said.
Walker said the district is facing up $40 million in repair bills at first estimate.
She predicts that the damage caused by the weather will be seen in new slips, slumps, potholes and scouring over the next few weeks as water continues to seep into the ground.
Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker said it was likely been "more than 50 years" since her district had seen roading conditions like this. Photo / NZME
She said her council had approved the immediate release of $500,000 from the council's Catastrophic Events Fund and they had resolved to proceed with a formal application to Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for the rest of the funding required.
"A response from Waka Kotahi is expected by November, if not earlier."
She said the council is planning for a full roading recovery project to ensure social and economic resilience in the short term, but there were still questions about long-term climate change resilience.
"To build long-term resilience, we are going to have to think a bit differently."
A Wairoa District Council spokeswoman said the council had received 12 customer service requests relating to roading in the past week.
"These were specifically to slips and dropouts across the Wairoa district with eight reports also relating to potholes on Wairoa district roads and the state highway," the spokeswoman said.
Wairoa District Council chief executive Kitea Tipuna said the long, wet winter had take its toll on the district's roads.
"That is evidenced by 105 customer service requests lodged up until August for this calendar year, compared with only 27 for a similar period last year."
The Wairoa District Council will receive $25.65 million in funding committed by Waka Kotahi to fix roads and bridges hit by more than a week of heavy rain at the end of March this year.
The northbound lane of Wimbledon Rd in Central Hawke's Bay was closed after a slip at the 9.6km mark undercut the road by more than half a metre. Photo / Central Hawke's Bay District Council
Work could take three years and will start when the ground is dry enough.
A Hastings District Council spokesperson confirmed they had 88 potholes reported and repaired across their rural and urban roading network in seven days, although they said no particularly significant roads were affected.
A Napier City Council spokeswoman said the council has had four customer contacts about potholes from September 26 to October 3.
"They weren't necessarily from the rain as they could come about for a couple of reasons," the spokeswoman said.
A Waka Kotahi spokeswoman said its contractor in Hawke's Bay received 11 calls regarding potholes from the public between Monday September 26 and Tuesday October 4.
"Of the 11 calls regarding potholes, four were for potholes in the Poukawa area on SH2," the spokeswoman said.
A Waka Kotahi spokesperson further complaints could have been made to its call centre, the police or councils.
All Hawke's Bay highways remained under a general "caution" on Friday, after Waka Kotahi on Tuesday advised drivers to take care for slips, potholes and potential surface flooding.
