At present, the region’s FAR rates are: Central Hawke’s Bay District Council 79%, Hastings District Council 73%, Napier City Council 71%, and Wairoa District Council 95%. They are higher than average as they include a 20% emergency work rate.
Hawke’s Bay mayors are calling for that rate to be upped further, using a “bespoke” rate which, for example, would see Central Hawke’s Bay shifted to a 95% FAR to help with cyclone recovery.
In Hawke’s Bay, Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 caused an estimated $1.1b worth of damage to council-owned roads and bridges.
There has been plenty of work completed since the natural disaster but the majority of work still needs to be done.
That includes the likes of replacing temporary bridges with permanent solutions on top of a long list of repair sites.
A meeting was held on Friday between the region’s mayors and NZTA board chairman Simon Bridges to discuss the funding issue, which three Hawke’s Bay mayors Alex Walker, Craig Little and Sandra Hazlehurst labelled “extremely constructive” in a joint press release.
Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Walker said she was “grateful” the meeting provided more “assurance”, but confirmed final confirmation for a higher funding rate was yet to be locked in as ofMonday.
Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker is pushing for a higher FAR rate to help with cyclone recovery. Photo / NZME
“For us in Central Hawke’s Bay, we are looking to get a 95% funding assistance rate to allow us to continue the package of works.”
She said they had been working on that “bespoke” rate with NZTA which would come out of a $91 million fund, already announced for Hawke’s Bay for 2024/25 in the Budget.
“We have got 82 sites that are on our recovery programme worth just under $130m to do,” Walker said.
“We can and will put local contribution in - but if we are going to do this quickly and efficiently we need to get clarity on the bespoke funding request we have asked for.
“The [good] thing is the $91m that was set aside for Hawke’s Bay, what we are asking for, sits well within that Budget allocation.”
Prior to Friday’s meeting, she said without the increased assistance being confirmed “the two long-term alternatives for Hawke’s Bay aren’t pretty”.
“Either recovery works taking up to 20 years to complete, or crippling rate increases to make up the shortfall in funding from the Government.”
NZTA provided a higher assistance rate after Cyclone Gabrielle, to help the region recover, but the funding has moved back to “standard emergency works” rates.
NZTA director of regional relationships Linda Stewart said over $200m had been spent helping councils with road recovery in Hawke’s Bay, since the cyclone.
“The councils have now moved into the recovery phase and standard emergency works policy will apply for this funding. This is the council’s regular [FAR] plus an additional 20%,” she said.
“Of the Crown funding available for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery to NZTA for 24/25 there is at least $91m being made available to the Hawke’s Bay councils if needed – currently councils have submitted applications to spend approximately $45m of that available pool of money, which would need to be spent in the 2024/25 financial year.
“We are working with councils to finalise their applications as quickly as possible, as they are submitted.
“We expect, and are waiting, to receive more applications. We would welcome those applications as soon as possible.”
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
