Cyclone Gabrielle: Wairoa iwi wants to lead the local rebuild and pushes Government to fast-track housing

Flooding in Wairoa during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Wairoa District Council

A local iwi organisation in Wairoa is seeking a Government commitment to help rebuild houses, but also plan for managed retreat.

Post-settlement Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust chairman Leon Symes said Wairoa had ready-to-go projects that could be accelerated to quickly get people back into homes.

The town was hard-hit by flooding after Cyclone Gabrielle in February, and the trust said the town needed 150 new homes immediately.

Symes said there was an urgent need to get whānau out of evacuation centres like marae and into stable accommodation, before looking at long-term solutions to repair and rebuild.

There were plans to build 40 houses on the south side of the Wairoa River, with the property already earmarked, he said. But the trust needed help from the Government to fast-track the process.

“We are looking at a commitment there from central government to help us... fast-track these particular houses... which are close to services already.

“And with the building facilities that we hope to establish, we can then quickly build these homes and move our whānau.”

The clean-up in Wairoa following Cyclone Gabrielle continues. Photo / RNZ / Jonty Dine

In Wairoa, managed retreat - whatever shape that took - would probably mean moving people south of the river and away from the flood-prone North Clyde, a predominantly Māori area, Symes said.

The trust and other local housing providers were moving whānau into accommodation without reassurance from the Government that those services would be funded, he said.

“I guess the frustration is [there is] a lot of Government support, but it’s the bureaucratic process in the middle that tends to slow things up, and that process creates frustration for whānau who just want to get something, get into somewhere and feel safe [and] warm for the coming months, particularly now coming into winter.”

Symes said the trust had an obligation to work together with the Government to get the best result for the people of Wairoa.

“We’ve got to work together. If we don’t work together, obviously we’ll be going in different directions and competing against one another and tripping over ourselves.”

Associate Housing Minister Willie Jackson was in Wairoa last week, where he visited a site for a planned factory and trade academy for prefabricated houses and met with Tātau Tātau.

In a statement, a spokesperson said Tātau Tātau’s housing recovery plan was being considered by the Government.

They said developments were already under way between iwi and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to build 56 housing units and 30 Kāinga Ora homes in Wairoa.

Symes said he wanted to ensure the Government support was as easy as possible for whānau and iwi entities to access.

“We are wanting to work with central government and also regional government. There’s phrase, ‘centrally and regionally enabled and locally led’ - that’s what we’re looking to, we just need that funding and clear support and direction.”