Cyclone Gabrielle: Whirinaki residents seeking answers to flood mitigation questions

Multimedia Journalist, Hawke's Bay Today·Hawkes Bay Today·

29 Oct, 2023 12:29 AM3 mins to read

The black humour of Pohutukawa Drive residents wanting to return to their homes. Photo / Paul Taylor

Whirinaki residents are hopeful flood mitigation work in the area will allow them to return to their homes.

The Whirinaki Resilience Project is in talks with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC), the Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) alliance and environmental engineering consultants to develop solutions that could include a new stopbank, and the raising of State Highway 2 and rail lines.

Initial costings indicate this could be achieved for $15 million to $20m and see homes in the area be re-categorised from 2A to 2C.

Plans were submitted to the HBRC on September 18, following reports by Pattle Delamore Partners and Tonkin & Taylor into how waterways, in particular the Esk River, could be maintained to lessen the risk of flooding in the event of a natural disaster such as Cyclone Gabrielle.

In an email to a member of the Whirinaki Resilience Project seen by Hawke’s Bay Today, HBRC chief executive Nic Peet indicated that his organisation was waiting on submissions from Waka Kotahi transport agency and KiwiRail - who are members of TREC - before being able to finalise flood mitigation plans.

Without plans that have a reasonable chance of gaining resource consent, the land categorisation cannot change.

“Hawke’s Bay Regional Council have put forward a proposal around resilience works on the Esk River/Whirinaki area,” Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail said in a joint statement.

“Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail are currently undertaking a review to understand what effect these plans may have on the state highway and rail network through the area.

“We expect to be able to provide our response to Hawke’s Bay Regional Council within the next few weeks.”

The regional council itself is unable to specify what that proposal entails, but it’s understood a 2m-high stopbank on vacant land between the Esk Valley and Whirinaki could be among them.

Regular clearing of the Esk River mouth is another possibility, as well as widening the Whirinaki drain.

Raising State Highway 2 and installing a stopbank between the road and Whirinaki are believed to be up for discussion. Photo / Paul Taylor.

“We have been working with multiple parties on potential solutions and the flood mitigation issues are complex,” Peet said.

“We will continue to work with all parties on a solution as fast as possible for the sake of the community, including upcoming discussions with Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail.”

Jayde Demanser has a home in Whirinaki she hasn’t lived in since the cyclone and says the community is emotionally and financially spent.

She believes the Whirinaki Resilience Project, of which she is a community representative, has offered the HBRC solutions and costings “on a silver platter”.

She can’t understand why people in the area remain in limbo.

“We get put through hoop after hoop after hoop,” Demanser said.

“The whole valley was failed by the regional council, at the end of the day. They should be begging us for forgiveness really.

“People’s insurance money has run out or is about to run out.”