Tuesday, 16 July 2024 12:55

Council told to forget another review, more sausage rolls

Written by  Peter Burke
For Wairoa farmers, the recent rains affect morale, says Federated Farmers. Photo Credit: HBRC Facebook Page. For Wairoa farmers, the recent rains affect morale, says Federated Farmers. Photo Credit: HBRC Facebook Page.

Admit that you stuffed up and apologise to the people of Wairoa.

That's the message from Federated Farmers president for Wairoa and Gisborne, Charlie Reynolds, to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council (HBRC) for not opening the bar at the river mouth which led to many residents in the township being flooded out.

Reynolds says while the recent flood affected mainly the township of Wairoa, there were problems for farmers. He says the local Affco freezing works ran low on water supplies for a time, which meant they could not operate at full capacity.

He says he's heard from farmers who had their processing dates rescheduled. "Answers need to be had quickly from HBRC and I don't mean sitting down and having a review and getting another group of people to sit down and eat sausage rolls. There needs to be an admission from the chair of HBRC that they stuffed up and caused the flooding," he says.

Reynolds believes part of the problem for Wairoa is that the HBRC is not based in the town and that it tends to focus on issues in the greater Napier and Hastings area. He says, for Wairoa farmers, the recent rains affect morale. He says one day they repair a fence and two days later it's washed away.

From what he's heard, some Wairoa farmers have suffered washouts and he also points to the fact that the Tiniroto road - the inland route that links Wairoa to Gisborne - has been out for much of the past year and the alternative route he describes as "not very nice".

While Wairoa farmers appear to have dodged a bullet with the recent rains, those around Gisborne, especially those on and around SH2 between Gisborne and Opotiki, have been badly affected.

Reynolds, who lives in that area, says the recent storm was worse for many farmers there than it was when Cyclone Gabrielle struck. He says access to some farms has been cut and infrastructure on these farms damaged.

He says he's got a personal beef with the Gisborne District Council over the clearance of logs from the Waimata River. He claims the logs were dragged out of the river and stacked on the banks. "But when the recent rains came, the logs got washed back into the river again and have ended up on local beaches," he says.

Overall, Reynolds says he's very pleased with the way the Government has responded to the plight in Wairoa. He says they acted quickly and provided much needed financial assistance and have tried to get answers from HBRC as to why the mouth of the Wairoa River was not cut in time to avoid the disaster that eventuated.

More like this

Another win

OPINION: Feds Southland 'pres' Jason Herrick and colleagues who continue the good fight against bureaucratic madness on behalf of farmers, have had another win - for now, at least - getting a court decision granting a 'stay' on rules in the Southland Water and Land Plan until changes can be made to section 70 of the RMA by central goverment, somtheing they clearly signaled after the election.

Court decision a win for Southland farmers

Federated Farmers says it welcomes a recent court decision which granted a stay on rules in the Southland Water and Land Plan until legislative changes can be made by government.

Featured

National

Machinery & Products

Alpego eyes electric power harrow

Distributed by OriginAg in New Zealand, Italian manufacturer Alpego recently showed its three metre Alysium electric power harrow at the…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Dodgy!

OPINION: If you believe Maori Party president John Tamihere’s claim that “nothing dodgy” occurred at Manurewa Marae during the last…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter