[As published in September/October BayBuzz magazine.]

As Paul Paynter’s column in this issue makes clear, the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle are still understandably top of mind for people and businesses directly upended by the disaster. And indeed the full economic impact is yet to ripple through the community. 

Our councils are still mainly occupied with picking up the pieces, particularly with respect to repairing infrastructure, with over $556 million of government funding coming into the region for flood protection ($203 million), transport repair ($260 million), and up to $92 million (government 50/50 share) for Category 3 residential property buyouts.

But ‘normal’ business is also underway.

Regional planning

As I write, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Agency draft Action Plan for the region is under review by relevant ministries. Once this feedback is digested, the ‘big reveal’ of the Plan should occur in late September. A first iteration of the Plan was released in June and can be found here.

The HB Regional Council bears the brunt of recovery work with respect to future flood protection planning and implementation (with plans due in early 2024), silt and wood waste clean-up (over 495,000m3 of silt has been removed so far at a cost of $42 million), assessing the full environmental impacts of the cyclone, helping farmers develop remedial plans, as well as leading a review of civil defence response.

Understanding the environmental impacts will take considerable time, looking at damage to waterways and wetlands (for example, our whitebait season was cancelled), assessing soil loss, examining the efficacy of forest cover of various types in averting slips and soil erosion.

For example, initial work completed by Landcare Research estimates the total mass of landslides from Gisborne down to the Wairarapa at 300 million tonnes, representing an economic loss, conservatively, of $1.5 billion. This research looks at how well woody vegetation prevented landslides. HBRC wrote this summary:

“The reduction in landslide probability by woody vegetation is modelled at 90% by commonly used regional soil erosion models. In the southern Hawke’s Bay – northern Wairarapa hill country, this expected reduction was largely observed for both indigenous forest (90% reduction) and exotic forest (80%). However, in northern Hawke’s Bay, exotic forestry was less effective than expected (60%), while indigenous forest maintained normal reduction (90%).”

Clearly there is heaps to be learned about managing our land more effectively to avert soil loss, arguably Hawke’s Bay’s number one environmental issue, given both the productive value of soil now lost and the damage caused by sediment to waterways and wetlands. A related issue is the accumulation of gravel in some waterways, a particular problem with the Tukituki in its CHB reaches.

And then there’s ‘business as usual’. A recent HBRC report says, unsurprisingly: “Cyclone Gabrielle has significantly impacted the Council’s ‘business as usual’ planning programme and implementation of HBRC strategies, policies, plans and rules, including those giving effect to government policies and national environment standards.”

‘Business as usual’ at the Regional Council involves moving forward with implementing its regulatory mandates (such as the TANK plan change) and proceeding with long-term strategic initiatives (such as examination of water storage options and mitigating and adapting to climate change).

TANK implementation

Until Cyclone Gabrielle, arguably the major regulatory matter on the HBRC agenda was implementing the TANK plan, which directs how water is to be used on the Heretaunga Plains to service human need (drinking water), environmental welfare, and economic activity … in that order. Although Environment Court appeals are in play, key major provisions of the Plan must be taken into account. As the HBRC puts it:

“Given the plan change has made significant progress through the decision-making process, and because it introduces a significant change to the way water is managed across the Heretaunga Plains, the provisions of the plan change are considered worthy of considerable weight alongside operative provisions in the Regional Resource Management Plan.” What’s the fuss?

The most contentious aspect of the Plan involves allocation of the limited water supply (a hard concept to imagine lately) for commercial irrigation purposes. HBRC is currently sitting on 854 water consent replacement applications for Plains water.

The Plan provides for reallocating water on the basis of “actual and reasonable” use given the land use involved (and prohibits farmers/growers moving to a more intensive water use).

Assessing the pending applications, HBRC finds that recorded actual use under the approximately 684 consents where this data was available amounted to about 30 million m3 /year, whereas the previously consented volume totaled 65 million m3 /year.

HBRC staff have begun the process of engaging with consent applicants regarding their future “reasonable use”. In theory, no applicant is to receive more water than previously for commercial use. Environmentalists and Māori have consistently argued that Heretaunga water was over-allocated, with demonstrable adverse community and environmental impacts. One can assume they will monitor the reallocation process closely.

In view of cyclone impacts, HBRC says: “We are also considering methods for identifying cyclone affected applicants and providing for staged introduction of actual and reasonable volumes to provide time and scope for recovery and irrigation of alternative crops if required.” In addition, HBRC is signalling flexibility in permitting transitional land use change (possibly involving higher nutrient loss) where this is essential to interim production recovery on flood damaged properties.

HBRC is relaxing requirements for farmers in the Tukituki catchment with respect to updating their Farm Environmental Management Plans. These were intended to move farmers toward meeting more demanding environmental standards set by the Tukituki plan change. However new national-level requirements give farmers until 2025 to have Freshwater Farm Plans targeting more stringent national standards.

Local councils

Our territorial authorities carry the ball with respect to road and bridge repair in their jurisdictions, as well as conducting public consultation and eventually direct negotiations with property owners on the residential buyout scheme.

With respect to the local councils, road and bridge repair costs will significantly exceed their financial capabilities, even with the government funding, under present ratings and borrowing plans. CHB reported $115 million in roading damage. HDC submitted a cost of $800 million in its April Locality Plan. NCC estimated its overall infrastructure recovery need at $58 million in its Locality Plan. Wairoa estimated about $22 million.

It remains to be seen how these councils will cope with the costs.

Announcing her council’s 10.8% rates increase for 2023/24 back in July, CHB Mayor Alex Walker referred to “an unsustainable funding model” and commented: “Comprehensive changes are urgently needed to the way local government is funded, as recommended by the recent report from the Future for Local Government Review.”

The review Mayor Walker refers to, commissioned by the Labour Government, has received almost no attention, at least in Hawke’s Bay. Released in June, it was swamped by the cyclone. And now, as a vestige of the Labour Government, might wind up in the dustbin come October. 

Unless other local leaders join Mayor Walker in paying attention. Why should they?

The report’s core theme should be music to the ears of local officials: “Local government and communities must be empowered to build local solutions for national-level problems, with collaboration and funding from central government. This includes local government supporting a wide range of functions like housing, economic development, and response to climate change.

And specifically regarding “sustainable funding”: “The current local government funding and finance system is already under pressure and is not sustainable. While taxation as a percentage of GDP has risen over time, local government’s share has stayed at around 2% of GDP – even as it has increasing responsibility for delivering the public good.

“The Panel thinks rates should remain the main funding mechanism for councils, along with a range of new tools to raise revenue locally. This must be accompanied by significant central government funding to support locally specific wellbeing outcomes. The Panel believes this will lead to a fundamental reset of the funding and commissioning relationships between central and local government.

“In addition to central government paying rates on its property, there should also be an annual transfer of revenue to local government equivalent to the annual GST charged on rates (currently around NZ$1 billion) … A significant fund is also needed to support climate change adaptation activities.”

It recommends additional options for improving the “revenue toolbox” of local government, including road congestion and tolling charges, bed taxes and visitor levies, value capture targeted rates (based on infrastructure improvements), volumetric charges (e.g., water, kerbside waste), flexibility for councils to adjust rating to address issues specific to Māori land, revenue bonds and co-investment by communities, business and philanthropic organisations.

The Review Panel also makes this intriguing predication:“The panel expects central government will not be pitching more money into the current system – it will be investing in a new system that will be better equipped and joined-up to address complex problems and build community wellbeing …

“To have resilient institutions that can also work at place for communities, the Panel recommends a reorganisation of local government. This reorganisation includes the types of council structure, the roles and functions they will carry out, and their governance arrangements.”

The Panel tilts toward regional structures, offering the unitary model: In this model, one council has responsibility for all the local government roles and functions across an agreed region or sub-region, including those currently carried out by regional councils and territorial authorities. This one-stop-shop approach allows for joined-up back-office processes and systems, and for activities that are not locally specific to be delivered at scale. New unitary councils must operate in a way that supports locally specific decision-making, place-shaping, service delivery, and resource allocation.” 

And a less radical “Combined network”:“In this model, local councils retain focus on place-based delivery and decision-making and work with others to address opportunities and challenges in their areas. A combined council carries out functions that affect the whole region or require specialist capability, and provides appropriate economies of scale. It also provides backbone support for the local councils by providing shared services where agreed.”

In this model, representatives are elected to local councils, with some then appointed to the “Combined Council”, with one of those appointed as chair.

Hawke’s Bay has a sorry history on reorganisation, but we do seem to be consolidating by stealth. Here is just a cursory list of the entities we fashion to do regional chores:

• HBCDEM Group Joint Committee
• Joint Climate Action Committee
• Napier-Hastings Future Development Strategy Joint Committee
• Matariki Governance Group
• Matariki Executive Steering Group
• Think Hawke’s Bay (Councils, Port, Airport, HB Tourism)• Mayors & CEOs leadership group
• HB Regional Economic Development Agency
• HB Regional Recovery Agency
• Omarunui Refuse Landfill Joint Committee• Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy Joint Committee
• Regional Transport Committee
• HB Cycling Governance Group
• Hawke’s Bay Tourism
• Hawke’s Bay Drinking Water Governance Joint Committee
• Hawke’s Bay Crematorium CommitteeImagine all the scheduling and decision-making lags … and impasses.

Back to ‘normal’

In the meantime, like the Regional Council, our territorial authorities are slowly getting back to ‘normal’ business. BayBuzz looked into what our councils are doing on the business-as-usual front. Here’s a taste.

Two projects stand out at HDC – the Waiaroha water storage, treatment and education facility, located just adjacent to HDC headquarters, and the new Hawke’s Bay Research Museum and Archive Centre, just a few blocks away.

The Waiaroha facility, slated to open October 6, will store 10 million litres of water and also serve as a public educational centre explaining how Hastings water gets safely from rainwater to aquifer to our drinking water taps. And construction just began on the Museum and Archive Centre, a joint project with Napier City Council. The Centre will provide permanent storage for the future care and protection of the treasured collection of the HB Museums Trust, numbering more than 88,000 items, with the majority being taonga Māori.

Civil works enabling new affordable home construction to proceed has been completed in Flaxmere. And improvements have been made to Cornwall Park and St Leonards Park.

Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst commented: “Leading up to the cyclone we had a big work programme in train upgrading our drinking water network, providing homes for our people, revitalising our city centre, enhancing our parks and reserves and planning to provide infrastructure for growth. We could not stop those programmes … we acknowledge the huge work of our staff, partners and contractors to carry on our BAU as well as work on the cyclone response and recovery – we had to carry on the BAU to meet our longer-term Hastings priorities.”

Probably the most celebrated non-recovery achievement of Napier City Council has been the opening of the re-designed Napier War Memorial Centre, hopefully putting to rest several years of distress. Around the city, work has progressed with the Westshore playground, various roadworks to make cycling and walking safer, and geotech work for new Mataruahou drinking water reservoir.NCC also noted several successful events – Unity Pitch at Soundshell, Matariki Lightshow, the Football Ferns friendly match with Vietnam at McLean Park, and Divercity.

Mayor Kirsten Wise commented: “We have had to adjust and be flexible with what we can achieve post-cyclone. Time lines have been pushed back and we’ve pulled in our belt. Despite that we are getting the mahi done and we are delivering projects and services for our community. Recovery is a priority for us and now more than ever it’s important that we focus on delivering our core services really well rather than trying to accomplish a lot of different things that aren’t all needed right now.”

Down in CHB, apart from cyclone recovery, the focus has been on addressing legacy underinvestment in water infrastructure, continuing major pipeline improvements begun in the second half of 2022. CHBDC also recently adopted its latest District Plan, called by Mayor Walker “a road map for land use diversification, decarbonisation and smart, sustainable residential growth close to key infrastructure”.

She commented: “I have to be honest – inflation and interest rates are going to put pressure on our big water and wastewater projects from now on. Combined with huge roading investments in recovery programmes, our balance sheet and our ratepayers are under huge pressure. Despite all that, CHB is well positioned for a strong recovery … We know that our role in the future of the region is vital as industries look to diversify risk across catchments, make use of different microclimates and even reduce biosecurity risk from disease by spreading crops into geographically separate areas.”

Up in Wairoa, the main street redevelopment project has remained ongoing. The project includes a community courtyard and new business space development in a former burnt-out main street building. Initial resealing the netball courts at Standring Park was completed in time for the new netball season. More work will be completed in spring. And ‘healthy housing’ upgrades have been completed on pensioner homes.

“It has been challenging to make progress in areas that aren’t cyclone related, particularly due to Wairoa’s isolation. It is essential to grow our community and provide the best services we can for our people,” says Mayor Craig Little.

Looking ahead

In our July/August magazine, I discussed more aspirational projects being mooted around the Bay – a new greenfields public hospital, a major film studio in Te Awanga, soil carbon farming, and waste-to-energy potential in the region. The last of these is explored further in this issue, and we will do likewise with the others in future editions and online.

Here are two additional ‘big picture’ possibilities to begin tracking.

Air New Zealand is looking to fly an electric, hydrogen or hybrid aircraft on a cargo-only demonstrator route by 2026 and expects to make an announcement around the type of aircraft it will be using by early next year. The airline is looking for two airports to participate in their trial of these aircraft, airports who want to further support the decarbonisation of aviation and are motivated to take on a leadership role in developing the infrastructure required.

Hawke’s Bay Airport is seeking to be one of those. Our airport has an already impressive sustainability track record to support its case. 

Let’s cheer them on! You can read more about it on our website.

Meantime, on the flip side of cyclonic rain and flooding, the Regional Council is progressing a series of water storage options. Consent approval is expected soon on the so-called Managed Aquifer Recharge trial in Central Hawke’s Bay, while investigations continue on moderate-scale, above-ground water storage possibilities for the Heretaunga catchment, with a report of those scheduled for HBRC councillors later in the year.

Stay tuned.