The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has confirmed it will contribute up to $435,000 to Kaipara District Council towards clean-up costs from the Mangawhai tornado.

Kaipara District Council will use the funding to cover the cost of contractors who cleared roads for emergency services and resident access, worked to make safe fallen trees and carried out berm collections of debris and waste from affected areas. The fund will also cover the cost of disposing tornado-damaged waste at the Hakaru Transfer Station which was made free over a weekend for affected residents.

Kaipara District Council Mayor Craig Jepson acknowledged the Government for their support with recovery costs.

“Unpredictable weather events like the tornado in Mangawhai can have a crippling financial impact on small councils like ours. We really appreciated having Northland MP Grant McCallum on the ground with us from the morning of the tornado and Hon Mark Mitchell visiting affected residents later in the week. They witnessed the devastation first hand and understood the scale, the amount of work required, and the support we needed.”

“I’m immensely proud of how our community pulled together in the aftermath of the tornado, including contractors from right across the district. So many Kaipara locals invested their hearts and souls, time and equipment into helping our affected residents. It’s a relief that the financial burden for our recovery will not fall solely on the shoulders of ratepayers,” says Mayor Jepson.

Immediately after the tornado, 6.8 tons of construction waste was sorted and recycled. More than 48 tons of tornado relate household and construction waste was received at Hakaru Transfer Station – this included council contractor berm collections and during the free drop off weekend.

Approximately 2,500m3 of green waste was collected and is being mulched.

Kaipara District Council Recovery Manager Glynis McCarthy is still finalising total costs and estimates the cost of emergency waste clean-up to be well over $500,000.

Some of these costs are also eligible for a subsidy from the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) as emergency recovery works.

“There are a small amount of costs not eligible for reimbursement by either NZTA or the Ministry for the Environment, and we are looking at other ways to offset these. Council staff have worked right through the initial response and now recovery phase to identify the best ways of working. As part of this we have worked with a local provider to store and manage mulch from tornado-related green waste – and looking at a profit share arrangement where the sale of mulch could return to Council.”

Key tornado response and recovery information:

• 48 ton of tornado-related waste received at Hakaru Transfer Station
• 2,500m3 green waste collected and being mulched
• 272 homes visited by the New Zealand Red Cross Disaster Welfare and Support team
• 21 first responders from the NZ Response Team carried out welfare checks on the most affected residents
• 125 volunteer hours spent by Taskforce Kiwi clearing waste
• 90+ building assessments carried out with assistance from Auckland Council staff
• 35 properties issued stickers – eight yellow stickers, no white stickers remaining
• Four households initially in emergency accommodation
• 497.75 hours of KDC staff time dedicated to the emergency response.

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