Wairoa still reeling from floods, frustration over council mounts

Wairoa locals are still reeling from last month's devastating flooding, with frustration continuing to mount towards the regional council's management.

Emails obtained by 1News suggest the Hawke's Bay Regional Council disregarded an independent review commissioned specifically into the town's flooding issues.

The review, completed well before the recent floods, emphasised the role of local knowledge in managing the Wairoa River mouth.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little expressed disappointment that the council didn't heed the advice – which could have exacerbated the town's ongoing flood woes.

"Even before Cyclone Gabrielle, we were facing a housing crisis with homes uninhabitable. The recent floods have only compounded our challenges," he said.

In a plea to the regional council last year, Little had requested a specific targeted review following the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Out of frustration, his council went on to commission its own $70,000 independent study, which highlighted the recurrent flooding issues at the Wairoa River mouth.

The completed report was passed on to the regional council in April, but emails obtained by 1News suggest the chief executive criticised some of the findings when he received it.

In an email response to Wairoa District Council, Hawke's Bay Regional Council chief executive Nic Peet said, "It adds little to what we already know" and feels "rather thrown together".

He also labelled some of the findings as "ill-informed and wrong".

"The report emphasised the need to incorporate local insights into river management," Little said, suggesting the recommendations were disregarded by the council.

Peet defended the response, stating that the report did not provide new insights beyond existing data provided by his staff.

"It didn't provide us with practically new information because most of what it relied on was data from the regional council, provided by us," he said.

"It was a useful summary of what happened, but didn't provide particular insights.

"We have worked over time with local contractors. We have staff who are always in Wairoa – ahead of any flood predictions. But look, there's always opportunities to keep strengthening that local involvement in all the work we do in Wairoa."

One local surmised what appeared to be widespread community sentiment in Wairoa, with resident Graeme Hughes criticising the regional council's stance.

"They think they know better than us, living two hours away," he said.

He added: "This town cannot afford more mismanagement".

Calls are mounting for the council to be held accountable, with some residents advocating for legal action to recover financial losses.

Little told 1News it was "unfair that ratepayers bear the brunt of this neglect".

Amid the discontent, there are also discussions about transferring river management responsibilities away from the regional council to allow more localised control.

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