Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has allocated $16.8 million of Budget 24 funding to support councils in accelerating recovery efforts following the severe weather events of 2023.

“The funding comes from the Cyclone Recovery Capability Fund which was announced as part of Budget 2024. Councils have said they require additional expertise to speed up their priority recovery projects, and this funding enables exactly that,” says Mitchell.

“It will be distributed to 12 councils, for 50 separate initiatives which councils identified to help get faster outcomes for their communities."

Mitchell says this includes additional geotechnical expertise to speed up decision-making on landslide-affected properties, as well as resources to accelerate roading recovery, bridge repairs and flood protection projects in affected regions.

“Recovery is an ongoing process, and we recognise councils are working hard to implement the necessary measures to support recovery in their communities," says Mitchell.

“We are committed to supporting our councils and communities as they continue to rebuild and recover from the devastating impacts of last year's severe weather events.

“We have been clear we want the recovery projects to be completed faster, and we want communities to have certainty about their future."

Mitchell says strengthening resilience is also the focus for a number of these projects to reduce the impact from future weather events and protect communities from future flooding.

The following local authorities will receive:

Auckland Council: $4.89 million to speed up categorisation and voluntary buy-out offers, and additional technical specialists to speed up property and community-level flood resilience projects.

 Hawke’s Bay Councils:

• Hawke’s Bay Regional Council: $2.18 million for additional expertise to speed up Wairoa, Pakowhai, and Pōrangahau flood protection, as well as additional expertise for community engagement and flood modelling for a range of projects.
• Hastings District Council: $1.47 million to speed up Hastings roading delivery programme.
• Central Hawke’s Bay District Council: $0.7 million to speed up roading recovery and provide flood modelling.
• Wairoa District Council: $0.2 million to speed up the Te Reinga bridge replacement project.

Gisborne District Council: $4.75 million for six initiatives to accelerate roading network recovery, added expertise to accelerate voluntary buyout offers and flood risk mitigation projects.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council: $0.51 million for specialist geotechnical support for roading projects, additional expertise to support Ohineangaanga Stream remediation and speeding up the Kaituna River stopbank project.

Kaipara District Council: $0.59 million to accelerate flood resilience projects.

Far North District Council: $0.22 million to support land categorisation.

Thames Coromandel District Council: $0.3 million to provide specialist contractors to remediate slips on State Highway 25.

Tararua District Council: $0.22 million for GIS expertise and project management support for local roading.