Community views wanted on Crown funding offer for Cyclone recovery

Published: 17 August 2023

From tomorrow, Napier residents are being asked to have their say on the Crown’s conditional funding proposal to assist Hawke’s Bay’s recovery and Council’s involvement in the voluntary purchasing of Category 3 properties.   

Napier City Council, along with Hawke’s Bay’s four other councils, recently agreed, in principle, to a proposal from the Crown, which includes up to $556m for the compensation of Category 3 properties, flood mitigation and transport repair for the region.     

To access the funding, all Hawke’s Bay councils must agree to all portions of the package, including voluntary residential property purchases in Category 3 areas, which for relevant councils will trigger the need for community consultation. Today at an Extraordinary Council meeting, a decision was made by elected members to consult with the community from tomorrow, for two weeks.  

Napier Mayor, Kirsten Wise, says it’s important for residents to understand what the Crown’s offer means for Napier and the wider region.     

“The Crown’s offer is designed to help those most affected by the Cyclone to move on with their lives with some certainty. It also allows the region to move forward through re-building resilience and connectivity” Mayor Wise says.   

“In order to accept the offer, we will need to make a change to our Long Term Plan, allowing us to take on the new activity to deliver a residential property rights compensation scheme for Category 3 residents. This change forms an important part of the consultation. 

“We encourage all of the community to have their say, whether they have been directly impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle or not.”  

The region-wide offer includes Crown funding of $260m towards transport recovery, $203m towards flood mitigation and $92.5m towards Category 3 voluntary residential property purchases.    

For Napier, this means $32m toward full replacement of the Redclyffe Bridge which the council co-owns with Hastings District Council (HDC would receive the same amount for their share of the bridge). Napier would also receive approximately $3.5m (50% of the cost) to allow council to administer voluntary residential property purchases in Category 3 areas and would benefit from the region-wide connectivity, resilience and broader economic benefits that the offer would provide the region.    

Residents can find more information and make an online submission at SayItNapier.nz or hard copy information and submission forms can be found at Napier City Council’s Customer Service Centre or Napier Libraries.    

Community information sessions include two drop-in sessions:   

28 August: Esk Valley (time and location can be found at SayItNapier.nz)   

29 August: 3.30 - 6.30pm, East Pier Hotel, Ahuriri.    

Consultation closes on Tuesday, 5 September and Council will consider submissions at a meeting on Tuesday, 14 September.    

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