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Michelle Sands, HortNZ’s general manager strategy and policy.
Horticulture New Zealand says that while it welcomes plans to extend planning permissions for post-cyclone rural recovery work in Hawke’s Bay, Tairāwhiti Gisborne needs to be included in that work.
The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) recently consulted on the proposed Hawke’s Bay Rural Recovery Works Order in Council.
This would extend the period during which land users can complete rural recovery works from Cyclone Gabrielle without a resource consent.
Michelle Sands, HortNZ’s general manager strategy and policy, says the Order of Council is very welcome and much-needed in Hawke’s Bay.
However, she says, there are still growers in Tairāwhiti Gisborne who would benefit from having more time to complete works, adding that the region should either be included in the scope of the Order in Council or a new Order should be created.
“This would enable Tairāwhiti’s recovery to be progressed in parallel with Hawke’s Bay,” Sands says. “There are horticultural businesses in the region that still need significant work, including removing silt, contouring silt that will not remain on the property and digging drains.”
“We are concerned, however, that the potential for council cost recovery would impose a financial burden on communities that are already under huge post-cyclone financial pressures,” Sands adds.
While growers have been resilient and made a strong recovery since the cyclone, some recovery works are still yet to be done and Sands says this regulation would make that process easier for people who have already been through a lot.
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