Cyclone Gabrielle: Task force to tackle managed retreat, flood risk and insurance issues

Controversial issues, including managed retreat from areas at increased risk of flooding and coastal erosion along with ‘who pays?’ are to be covered by a Government task force guiding the recovery from successive cyclones this year.

The Government on Wednesday released the Terms of Reference for the Cyclone Gabrielle Recovery Task force, stating that its primary purpose is to “align locally led recovery plans with the work of government agencies and the private sector”.

Among those terms include the complicated tasks of identifying - where necessary - options for retreating from areas of high risk of flooding/damage in the future, along with approaches to funding and regulatory implications.

The task force, chaired by Sir Brian Roche, will also work on identifying where future developments could have less risk and how to build more resilient infrastructure, with more extreme weather events in the future expected due to climate change.

Minister for Cyclone Recovery Grant Robertson said affected communities would be at the centre of decision-making and local voices would be fed back to the Government through the task force.

“The task force will also oversee specialist groups of experts who will advise the Government on what is required for the recovery and how to improve resilience to climate change and severe weather in the future.”

The task force will also include representatives from business, local government, iwi and unions. These members will be finalised in the next week.

Expert sub-groups are being established for insurance and banking, utilities and telecommunications, and infrastructure, construction and roading.

The task force covers all regions affected by the January and February floods and cyclones. Regional groupings from these regions will also be set up and report directly to the Taskforce, Robertson said.

“Its initial focus will be on the immediate recovery but it will also lead on planning for future resilience, which will become its greater focus over time,” Robertson said.

This future planning advice is similar to what happened in Queensland following the 2010/11 floods.

“Part of the task force’s work will cover issues to do with managed retreat, as well as other adaptation and resilience issues,” Robertson said.

“Climate resilience will be a core objective of the recovery.

“We are committed to a locally-led recovery, supported by central government.

“The establishment of this task force will ensure local perspectives are included, the recovery is co-ordinated and fits the needs of the affected regions.”

Roche told the Herald there were “more questions than answers” at this stage and that he sympathised with those whose homes had been badly damaged and were desperate for clarity.

“We are well aware the anxiety and impact it has had and the need to resolve that as soon as we practically can.

“We are hoping to have a work programme established in the very near future.”

Roche said in the first instance though, people needed to contact their insurers.

Roche said the first task would be to agree on a programme of work with local groups to deliver what they needed. Immediate issues included silt removal, repairing highways and critical infrastructure, along with identifying uninhabitable or “red-zoned” land.

On insurance issues and land that could be rebuilt on, Roche said there had already been discussions with the Insurance Council and these would continue regularly.

Questions would arise of equity, who pays where there needs to be managed retreat, and for those who are uninsured.

“These are some very significant questions. No doubt there will be land that will be unable to be rebuilt on.”

One of the most immediate issues was silt removal, which affected both productive land and residential properties.

Then would be the repair programme and working through what properties could be rebuilt and where.

“It is similar to what happened in Christchurch, but not with this geographic spread.

“It is a very significant event and there are very significant lessons for us and what the policy settings need to be.”

While primarily concerned with economic and infrastructure issues, the task force will have regard to relevant social issues such as employment and training to support the infrastructure rebuilds.

The task force will not have responsibility for policy and funding decisions, nor welfare and social support, procurement or contracting, or the operational delivery.

Task force members are appointed for 12 months with the option to extend for another 12 months.