Northland’s worst-hit Cyclone Gabrielle district is deferring more than $10 million worth of planned work rather than almost doubling its rates to pay for major Cyclone Gabrielle damage.

Kaipara District Council (KDC) ratepayers would otherwise be facing a 10.14 per cent rate increase, almost double the 5.38 per cent draft rates lift they are currently looking at for the 2023/2024 financial year starting on July 1.

The deferments come as KDC considers the vexing question of how to pay for more than $26m of damage across the district.

Kaipara suffered Northland’s worst damage when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the district on Valentine’s Day. This was followed by the February 24 Mangawhai rains, which brought further damage hot on the heels of the cyclone. In turn, all that came after extremely wet conditions in Kaipara across November, December and Jan

KDC’s general manager of infrastructure services Anin Nama said in a severe weather update delivered to a council briefing meeting in Mangawhai on Wednesday, early estimates showed Gabrielle had brought a $26.39m hit for the district. This was made up of $20.9m in transport and roading impacts, $2.55m in damage to stormwater facilities, $1.53m in damage to the council’s wastewater treatment plants, $1.21m in damage to the district’s land drainage systems and $200,000 in damage to drinking water supplies.

The council is looking at deferring $5.1m of work on bridges, and to a lesser extent, road sealing is to be deferred, along with $5.4m of work across a variety of plans.

Nama said the $5.4m of potential general projects being deferred included work on: aspects of Dargaville’s wastewater treatment plant, council vehicle replacements, the council’s Waiatua drinking water reservoir north of Dargaville, public consultation about the council’s waste strategy, the council’s Kaihu River Rotu water intake and Wood Street Mangawhai stormwater system and beautification.

Damage on the road to Kaipara Harbour's remote harbourside community of Tinopai, which was initially cut off from the outside world due to damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Kaipara District Council

KDC will be writing to Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency and the Minister of Transport seeking an extension to the June 30 deadline for up to 100 per cent of Cyclone Gabrielle Government funding available towards the bridge work and, to a lesser extent, road sealing. Should this be achieved, this part of the deferred work of this type would be back on the radar.

The council is also to seek a lift from its current business-as-usual 62 per cent Waka Kotahi subsidies for local roading.

Councillor Mark Vincent said one cyclone repair funding option could be to increase council debt.

KDC general manager of sustainable growth and investment Sue Davidson said the council would be getting close to its agreed $60 million debt ceiling in the next 18 months.

The council’s Kaipara recovery manager Glynis McCarthy - one of three newly appointed district council recovery managers in the North reporting to a regional recovery manager - said the scale of the damage facing the district was overwhelming for many.

McCarthy said there had been 150 applications, totalling more than $2 million, to the council’s Mayoral Relief Fund. That figure is four times its available $485,468.94 (applications closed on Monday). The fund is made up of $5000 from Waikato’s Pirongia Golf Club, $250,000 from the Government’s disaster relief fund, about $209,600 from Stuff, $10,800 from Toyota Finance and $5000 from Mitre 10.

Cyclone Gabrielle caused damage to the new boardwalk at Baylys Beach, where pedestrians accessing Ripiro Beach could, for the first time, be separated from the constant stream of vehicles also using the coastal area. Photo / Susan Botting

Staff had been working with applicants in the face of the number of applications to help direct them to other available funding options. Oversubscription meant applicants would probably get only part of what they had applied for.

She said the council’s executive would make final decisions on paying out those applications before the end of the month.

“We want to get the money out to people as soon as possible,” McCarthy said.

Cyclone Gabrielle damage is expected to take years to repair to the point where the lives of those affected are returned as closely as possible to normal.

McCarthy said Kaipara’s immediate response work with regard to Cyclone Gabrielle has finished. Immediate response work had included emergency stopbank repairs, making sure wastewater, stormwater and drinking water suppliers were working adequately and restoring transport links so supplies and essential services could reach affected communities.

The council had now moved into the recovery phase of dealing with the cyclone’s impact. This focused on fixing identified damage.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.