Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has adopted its Annual Report for the 2023-24 financial year, marking a year focused on supporting the community to recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and build resilience.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Chair Hinewai Ormsby acknowledged the dedicated efforts of Council and the community in overcoming the challenges of the past financial year.

“The year brought significant obstacles, and I’m proud of how our teams and communities worked side-by-side to support recovery and build resilience across Hawke’s Bay.

“As we look ahead, we are focused on addressing immediate needs, while also investing in long-term solutions, building flood infrastructure and keeping the community and taiao at the heart of everything we do.”

Key highlights include:

Infrastructure recovery: Following Cyclone Gabrielle, repairs were completed across six kilometres of breached flood areas and 28 kilometres of weakened stopbanks in record time, with all flood protection repairs finalised by January 2024.

Land categorisation process: The council, in partnership with local authorities, completed land categorisation in October 2023, allowing the voluntary buy-out process for Category 3 properties to begin, providing certainty for impacted homeowners.

New flood protection initiatives: With Crown funding, new flood schemes for Wairoa, Whirinaki, Heretaunga Plains, and Pōrangahau are underway, allowing properties in select categories to be reclassified so that owners can repair or rebuild.

Silt and woody debris clean up and collection: More than 3.46 million tonnes of silt and nearly 310,000 tonnes of woody and general debris were collected, with the majority repurposed for backfill, stopbank reinforcement, and other productive uses.

Community and rural sector support: Working closely with the rural and primary sectors, the Council provided targeted support for farmers, growers, and landowners, with investments in erosion control, planting, and cyclone remediation.

The report also outlines the Council’s restoration of public access to regional parks and trails, many of which suffered extensive cyclone damage, and to continued efforts to protect waterways and biodiversity through fencing, planting, and environmental remediation.

The year’s financial performance resulted in an operating surplus of $3.5 million, compared to a planned deficit of $20.7 million.

This surplus reflects subsidies and grants received for cyclone-related infrastructure repair and recovery efforts, with many associated costs having been incurred in the previous financial period or of a capital nature.

Revenue and expenditure both exceeded budget forecasts, driven by external funding received for cyclone response and recovery activities, including extensive sediment and debris removal.

The value of infrastructure assets has risen sharply this year following a revaluation based on the costs incurred in rebuilding our stopbanks, pump stations and other assets.

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