In 2022, Northland Regional Councillor Joe Carr and Far North District Councillor Felicity Foy celebrated the Whangatane Spillway for helping stop Kaitāia from being flooded. Now, more work will increase the capacity of the spillway.
In 2022, Northland Regional Councillor Joe Carr and Far North District Councillor Felicity Foy celebrated the Whangatane Spillway for helping stop Kaitāia from being flooded. Now, more work will increase the capacity of the spillway.
Flood prevention work in the Far North – already proven to help stop flood damage – is getting another boost from the Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund.
The Government will contribute $1.5 million to the Lower Whangatane Spillway stopbank setback, as part of the long-term Awanui River Flood Management Scheme byNorthland Regional Council.
The council is funding the remaining $1m of the project, which aims to protect $647m worth of land, buildings and infrastructure in Kaitāia and Awanui.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones said on Thursday the project will help protect more than 90 houses and around 400ha of land from Northland’s increasingly extreme weather events.
“Previous Government-backed flood protections are estimated to have prevented $50m in damage during the one in 100-year weather event on August 18, 2022,” Jones said.
“Those investments, which enabled Northland Regional Council to condense an eight-year programme of spillways and stopbanks into just three years, prevented disaster, and this next stage of works will further improve Kaitāia’s resilience with homes, businesses and infrastructure protected from the increasingly extreme weather Northland faces.”
The August 2022 weather event saw 150mm of rain fall in Kaitāia and Awanui in 48 hours, making it the most severe flood event since 2007.
The event caused State Highway 1 to close due to multiple slips at Mangamuka Gorge, but the notoriously flood-prone towns were protected by the Awanui River flood work, the council said at the time.
The new funding will increase capacity of the Lower Whangatane Spillway, by repositioning the stopbank at the Quarry Rd Bridge, off SH1.
Kaitāia infamously flooded in 1958, with the water flowing through the main street prompting an upgrade to the Awanui River flood management. Photo / Te Ahu Heritage Museum and Archives.
The first tranche of the Regional Infrastructure Fund’s flood resilience projects also gave $660,000 for work on the Quarry Rd Bridge, which used to be a flood “pinch point”.
Thursday’s announcement is part of a $97m government package to part-fund 32 flood resilience projects across New Zealand, helping to protect more than 30,000 homes, 350,000ha of land and 100,000 New Zealanders who live in these areas, Jones said.
“Flooding doesn’t just damage roads, pipes and power poles – it disrupts communities, livelihoods and local economies,” he said.
Another Northland project to benefit from the Regional Infrastructure Fund’s flood resilience projects is Kaipara’s stopbank upgrade between Dargaville and Te Kōpuru, which received $7.8m in July 2024.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
