Riwaka residents’ concerns aired
Riwaka residents are questioning if more could have been done to mitigate the effects of ex-Cyclone Gita.
More than 60 people attended a Tasman District Council-hosted community meeting at the Riwaka School Hall on Wednesday, receiving an update on the emergency response and voicing their concerns.
Queries ranged from the longterm viability of forestry in slipprone areas in Riwaka and Marahau, to liability for material washed onto low-lying properties, and how Tasman’s streams and waterways are managed by the council.
Aimee MacDonald told the meeting there had been a flood two years ago at the lower end of Riwaka.
‘‘We had a meeting like this ... we had a lot of false promises and it’s happened again,’’ she said.
‘‘We just want some assurance. It’s been two years and we have been fighting weekly with the council ... we just want help.’’
Speaking after the meeting, MacDonald said the property where she lived with her husband and three children backed onto a council reserve that had drainage issues and every time it rained, it flooded their house and surrounding properties.
She said they’d been battling with council to get a bund put in to stop the flooding, and for a better way of draining the reserve.
‘‘We’re still knee-deep in water right throughout our property.’’
Tasman District Council recovery manager Adrian Humphries, along with deputy mayor Tim King, assured MacDonald, and others with similar issues, that their concerns hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.
‘‘My biggest concern is apparently promises were made and never fulfilled, and so I will definitely check up that,’’ Humphries said.
King said, in terms of both waterways and forestry, it was also important to remember it had been a ‘‘pretty extreme event’’.
He urged people to read the new government environmental standards for plantation forestry, which take effect in May. There would be new requirements to manage environmental impact, including erosion.
However while these new standards ‘‘may have’’, in some circumstances, provided a benefit, the damage had been ‘‘utterly indiscriminate’’.
He appreciated residents’ frustrations, but there were some instances where no matter what rules were in place, there would still have been damage.
‘‘What is more concerning is where things have been discussed in the past, and we have undertaken to do things and we haven’t followed through on them.’’
Residents were told that the council was ‘‘maxed out’’ dealing with damage to infrastructure, including roads and stormwater.
Priorities include opening road access to those cut off, following up on welfare cases, repairing culverts and bridges, and responding to urgent requests.
‘‘Thousands of tonnes’’ of debris had already been removed and the council was meeting with forestry companies.
Humphries told attendees to contact their insurance companies and the EQC as soon as possible, and residents were given information sheets with companies to contact to help with debris removal, along with advice about financial assistance available from Work and Income and Civil Defence.
Residents’ contact details were collected by staff, and Humphries assured people he would respond to concerns on an individual basis.
King thanked those who had volunteered and helped those in need.
‘‘One of the very small silver linings out of dark clouds like this is the amount of community spirit that it builds.’’
Resident Jan Sagar said ‘‘time would tell’’ if the meeting had been helpful. ‘‘I mean, we’re having a meeting a week later, but where’s the Army? You know, we send them to the Solomon Islands, and Fiji, and everywhere else when they get wiped out, why aren’t they here helping?’’
Len Youngman said the council were doing the best they could.
‘‘But I’m not sure they have the resources, I’m not sure that Mother Nature is going to cooperate so that we get a solution.’’
He didn’t think ratepayers would want to stump up with the funds to allow the council to make the changes called for.
‘‘If they want a new way of looking at what water’s going to do, then they’re going to have to pay more rates.’’
Humphries and King met with people in Marahau near Abel Tasman National Park later on Wednesday evening, where concerns about forestry practices and the clean-up were also raised.
The meeting filled the Marahau Fire Station.
Residents said the council gave an overview of what had been done since the storm, but reiterated it didn’t have the manpower to help clean up debris on private properties.
Advice included where to go for support with resulting mental health issues. Drop-in centres were held from 2pm-8pm yesterday at the ATET centre in Riwaka, and at the Marahau Fire Station from 10am-4pm today.