Co-ordinator to help recovery in flood-affected areas

The Bay of Plenty town of Matata has been devastated by flooding. Picture / Alan Gibson

A facilitator is being appointed to work with the Whakatane District Council on a recovery package for the flood-devastated Bay of Plenty town of Matata.

The total bill from the flood damage is now estimated at about $40 million.

"The programme will need to cover recovery planning, stream diversions, clean-ups and re-survey and land purchase as appropriate because it is entirely conceivable that people will not be able to return to use the sections where their homes once were," Prime Minister Helen Clark said.

Cabinet today received an update on the damage done by the floods in the western and eastern Bay of Plenty.

Miss Clark visited the area on Friday and Civil Defence Minister George Hawkins was there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

"While the area concerned is geographically not large compared with, say, the lower North Island floods or the Bay of Plenty floods from last year, nonetheless where the weather bomb had its impact it has had extremely severe consequences," Miss Clark said today.

The area around Matata, where a mass of water, boulders and mud came down, resembled the scene left by a tsunami, she said.

She announced today that the Government would appoint a "recovery facilitator" to work with the council on an integrated assistance package.

Cabinet had also agreed to remove the thresholds for costs a council would normally meet before calling on the Government for help.

This took into account that in the current financial year, Whakatane District Council had also had to meet the costs of last July's major flood event, Miss Clark said.

Taskforce Green would help with the recovery and clean-up efforts.

The agricultural recovery programme operating in the eastern Bay of Plenty was being extended to include the western Bay of Plenty for those farms which had been badly affected by the event. That programme would run until the end of 2005.

Miss Clark said consideration was also being given to the need for additional areas of recovery assistance such as housing help.

"Housing New Zealand will need to advise us on what kind of loan finance, for example, might be necessary for those who have been left homeless or left with extremely badly damaged homes ... for which they have no insurance at this time."

Claims lodged with the Earthquake Commission already exceeded $10m.

The Government's contribution to the mayoral relief funds for the three councils areas affected by the floods would total $250,000, Miss Clark said.

It would also face significant costs in supporting the councils with rebuilding of local roads and essential infrastructure, and with the repair of state highways and rail lines.

The lower North Island floods was estimated to have cost the Government around $300m, last year's Bay of Plenty floods cost around $100m and this event was expected to cost around $30m to $40m, Miss Clark said.

- NZPA