A $820,000 boost from the Cyclone Recovery Capability Fund is expected to help locals further nail down local recovery efforts following last year’s severe weather events.
Helping to progress remediation work on damaged roads, the funding covers geotechnical engineering ($485,000), planning ($200,000) and stormwater analysis and design ($135,000).
“We are already working on a number of roads that suffered damage, but this means we can now progress more sites,” confirmed project engineer, Sam Prendergast – Western Bay of Plenty District Council. “The funding will enable us to engage the necessary professional services and progress these designs in parallel with other sites.”
Roads set to benefit from the new funding include Kaiate Falls Road, Ngamuwahine Road, No. 3 Road, Oropi Road, Te Puke Quarry Road and Turner Road.
Jo Lynskey from the council’s Emergency Management team adds that the funding has been welcomed by the community and will prove especially vital to the region’s primary
sector businesses.
“Our communities, in particular the primary sector, depend on a reliable and resilient road network. Support from government for increasing capability for technical expertise and additional specialist skills to deliver these projects sooner than planned means we can speed up the resilience of our communities.”
Announced as part of Budget 2024, the Cyclone Recovery Capability Fund is being distributed to a dozen councils, covering 50 initiatives.
