Hawke’s Bay Silt Recovery Taskforce finishes after restoring 7000 hectares back to productive land

The Silt Recovery Taskforce has completed its work removing silt and debris from flood-impacted properties. Photo / Warren Buckland

Removing silt covering the region following Cyclone Gabrielle has been a massive challenge.

But now it’s done.

More than 2.5 million cubic metres of silt has been collected in less than two years from across Hawke’s Bay as the Silt Recovery Taskforce finishes up its work removing silt and debris from flood-impacted properties.

The taskforce has returned around 7000ha of productive land through the removal of cyclone-strewn sediment and debris across 1184 properties and supported landowners back to productivity.

Silt Recovery Taskforce lead Darren de Klerk said the months following the cyclone were challenging.

“It was daunting, challenging, rewarding and a steep learning curve, rich with lessons for future disaster recoveries,” de Klerk said.

“We needed to work out how to deal with millions of cubic metres of sediment and debris safely, efficiently and sustainably. The sheer number of jobs logged and the widespread damage was overwhelming.”

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chairwoman Hinewai Ormsby said the collaboration between HBRC and Hastings District Council played a pivotal role in support the region as it recovered and rebuilt following the devastation from the cyclone.

“The Silt Recovery Taskforce’s mahi, funded by the Government, supported our community [members] hit hard by the cyclone, with millions of tonnes of flood sediment and debris removed from over 1000 properties,” Ormsby said.

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said finishing the job in less than two years was no mean feat, and a major milestone to the region’s wider recovery.

“Seeing properties cleaned up, the piles of silt gone, grass sprouting and our land getting back to productivity is wonderful,” Hazlehurst said.

De Klerk said he was proud of the work they had done.

“A multi-agency effort, with the community and the region’s recovery at the heart. We’ve cleared an estimated 2.5 million cu m of silt, helped hundreds of landowners back to productivity, and sorted through over 400,000 cu m of mixed waste and tidied up close to 1.2 million cu m of woody debris,” he said.

“Close to 15,000 damaged orchard and vineyard posts were recycled into fence posts. Water tanks, irrigation pipes and concrete were also recycled. Significant volumes of woody debris was repurposed into mulch, boiler fuel, community giveaways and community projects.”

The collaboration was recently recognised at the Association of Local Government Information Management (Algim) Awards, where the Silt Recovery Taskforce received a Collaboration Excellence Award.

Silt has been put to good use, with significant volumes used in Napier’s Parkland and the Hawke’s Bay Expressway development, as well as it being blended into quarries for base course production, he said.

De Klerk said he was humbled by the community’s resilience, support for each other, and their sense of humour even when everyone was going through an incredibly tough time.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.