Civil contractors from Whanganui and Manawatū raised more than $26,000 for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery in Hawke's Bay.
Civil contractors from Whanganui and Manawatū raised more than $26,000 for Cyclone Gabrielle recovery in Hawke's Bay.
Whanganui and Manawatū civil contractors have continued their support for those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle by helping to raise $26,161 towards the ongoing clean-up effort in Hawke’s Bay.
The fundraising was part of a national effort from the Civil Contractors of New Zealand, with the association raising more than $40,000.
The local funds were raised by the CCNZ Manawatū Whanganui branch at a charity golf tournament, which was supported by former All Blacks Christian Cullen and Mark Ranby and former Hurricane Andre Taylor.
CCNZ Manawatū Whanganui branch chairman Greg Lumsden said the idea for the fundraiser came when he and a few others took a digger and truck to Hawke’s Bay a few days after the cyclone hit.
Once he got there, he realised how widespread the devastation was.
Lumsden said it felt brilliant to see local contractors raise as much as they did and to be in the Esk Valley to give the money to the Bay View Community Charitable Trust.
“Knowing that it was going to the people that needed it was the best feeling at all.
“It was bloody awesome, probably one of the highlights of my chairmanship.”
Trust funding and community liaison Jenny Dodds said the community was grateful for the support and the funding would go a long way towards helping to restore the Bay View, Whirinaki, Eskdale and Tangoio communities, which had all been massively impacted.
“When we’re talking about transport, water or earthmoving, contractors are the ones to do the physical works.
“We’ve seen so many skilled and dedicated contractors putting their hands up to support the community over the past months, which has saved lives, restored access to properties [and] allowed our community to start recovering,” Dodds said.
Whanganui contractors also directly helped with recovery efforts by travelling to the region to assist with the clean-up.
Loaders Wanganui managing director and contracts manager Justin Loader said he and a team spent two and a half weeks in the northern side of Napier helping to dig silt out of a power station.
Loaders Whanganui personnel digging silt out of a power station in Hawke's Bay following Cyclone Gabrielle.
He said before going, he didn’t know if things would be as bad as they seemed on television, but once he arrived there, he saw the conditions were even worse.
“Driving into town, it was horrific ... seeing houses covered to their rooflines in silt and seeing trees through the sides of houses and cars upside down, it was like a bomb site,” he said.
Loaders was one of several contractors on-site at the power station, and he estimated, at its peak, around 100 personnel had been working to clear the site.
They had also played a big part in the golf tournament, sponsoring a hole and having their mascot, a giant traffic cone, walking around, as well as supplying a wheelbarrow full of beer.
“It was a good day out, but it was good knowing why you were doing it and that you were supporting something important,” he said.
However, Loader said they hadn’t been called to provide more help as it seemed local contractors had the situation under control.
“If someone needed something, we would definitely be over there.”
Lumsden was still doing work in the region, as for the last three months he’d been training people to operate earthmoving equipment.
Due to its success, he said they would look to make the golf tournament an annual event.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
