Flooding in Wairoa after the river burst its banks due to heavy rain from Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: Wairoa District Council's Emergency Controller
A government offer to help Hawke's Bay councils buy out cyclone-damaged homes is still far from being a done deal, almost six months after Cyclone Gabrielle devastated the North Island.
The proposal announced on Monday included partially covering the costs of buying out owners of Category 3 homes, increasing flood protections and fixing the roads. However, it was still unclear whether the proposal would go ahead and how much of the bill would be footed by ratepayers.
This week the region's five councils planned to individually vote on whether to accept the offer, with unanimous agreement needed to proceed. Some may have been legally required to consult with their communities.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said councils were not going to get the fully Crown-funded buyouts Christchurch did after the quakes, because "intensity and the frequency of weather events is increasing and everybody can see that".
Wairoa mayor Craig Little said that could be a stumbling block - his region had no homes in the highest-risk Category 3, meaning no homeowners needed to be bought out. On the other hand, ratepayers who would have to help buy out hundreds of homeowners might not be as keen, he said.
Wairoa mayor Craig Little. Photo: Supplied/ Wairoa District Council
"If one council out of the five come back and say, 'Hey, the community says well actually we're not much happy about this, we don't want it,' I don't know why you'd say that because I don't think there's going to be any other offers coming, but we've still got to do it, we can't pre-determine anything - then that's going to make it really difficult on the ones that are pretty happy with it."
More than 100 Wairoa houses needed rebuilding and flood-proofing, expected to cost the district tens of millions of dollars, Little said.
"If it's going to be really good for Wairoa, I don't want anything holding us up, stopping people getting back into their homes and getting their lives back on track."
Central Hawke's Bay mayor Alex Walker. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
Central Hawke's Bay also had no homes under the highest-risk category, but mayor Alex Walker said the region was in desperate need of roading fixes and improved flood protection. There was no real alternative to the government's offer, she said, because the councils could not afford the repairs by themselves.
"The scale of the damage and the scale of the impacts on our communities are far bigger than what is able to be coped with at a local level, or indeed a regional level, and so we are very reliant on a partnership with government to be able to help us move forward."
Floodwaters in Napier, days after Cyclone Gabrielle Photo: RNZ/ Tess Brunton
Hastings had the highest number of Category 3 houses, with 246 homes deemed high-risk. A further 20 were in Napier.
The proportions to be borne by central and local authorities were yet to be made public, but Napier mayor Kirsten Wise said her community would struggle to accept the cost-sharing approach taken.
Napier mayor Kirsten Wise. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin
However, the government had made it clear that ratepayers would have to foot some of the bill, she said.
"You know, you look at the Christchurch earthquake where those property buyouts were 100 percent Crown-funded.
"We will be going out to talk to our community about this, after we have our meetings at the end of the week. I'm fully expecting there to be some concerns raised by our community."
She said it had been a balancing act between negotiating the best deal, and making decisions as quickly as possible so people could move on with their lives.
The five councils each planned to hold an extraordinary meeting this week to vote on the government's offer.
Speaking to Morning Report on Tuesday, Robertson rejected the suggestion the deal on the table was 'take it or leave it', but hinted there would be little wriggle-room.
"This has been something that's been discussed over, you know, many weeks now between the government and the councils. There's been extensive dialogue working through what's needed for people both in Category 3, but also for the councils themselves in terms of the work that needs to be done in the Category 2 areas and in transport.
"So this has been something that's been, you know, iterated over many, many discussions. This is something that the councils, the mayors and the chair of the regional council have worked through, their officials have worked through with government officials, I've spoken to them as well. It's simply the result of a negotiation."
Robertson said it was what had been reached - and not everyone in a negotiation was always completely happy.
"But I still think it's a very good proposal that allows people in Hawke's Bay to move forward. And that's been the goal I think, shared by the government and by local government, that we need to provide certainty - and that's what this package will do."
The exact cost split between councils and the Crown was yet to be determined, depending on valuations in each affected region.
"We're still working that through obviously, because that relies on the question of valuations. And ultimately, what the government has said all along is that this is a locally led, centrally supported arrangement. The final decisions on buyouts and the amount that will be paid will be made by local government.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
"We've got some ballpark numbers, but as we said when we put the release out yesterday, we've got to respect councils' rights to go through the proposal and, and work that through. And we won't put all the detail out until councils have had that opportunity. But you know, it will be a significant amount of money."
While the buyouts would not be totally funded by central government, Robertson said the deals involved more than just paying for inhabitable houses.
"It also includes significant support for the work that needs to be done to make the regions more resilient - that includes transport, that includes flood protection.
"So when you look at the package as a whole, I think it stacks up pretty well alongside the support that's been provided in the face of previous natural disasters."
