A further $3 million of funding to Wairoa will allow Wairoa District Council to get on with cleaning up household waste and sediment left by last week’s flooding, Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell says.

In Budget 24 the Government provided $10 million to the Hawke’s Bay Region to complete its sediment and debris removal from Cyclone Gabrielle.

 Following last week’s severe weather event, the Government asked the region to reprioritise part of this funding for clean-up in Wairoa.

“The Wairoa District Council has identified what it needs, and this additional funding is immediately available for the work," says Mitchell.

“This funding will go towards the clean-up of household waste and sediment for more than 400 properties impacted by last week’s weather event. This includes the collection, removal, and disposal of sediment, debris and household waste."

Mitchell says this is a great example of the whole Hawkes Bay Region working together and reprioritising to support Wairoa.

“The $3 million is in addition to recent government contributions of $600,000 to the Wairoa Mayoral Fund.

“In total this means $3.6 million of Government funding is available to assist Wairoa communities with the recovery and rebuilding process."

Mitchell says their priority is to ensure that communities can return to normalcy as quickly as possible.

“We are committed to standing by the people of Wairoa and all affected regions during these challenging times.”