Date: 06 October, 2010

New Dates For Hokianga Flood Meets Set

A round of several meetings in the Hokianga to discuss local authority draft river management plans has now been rescheduled for early November.

The five Hokianga meetings were originally scheduled for 11 to 13 October as part of a series of more than 20 gatherings around the region to discuss progress on the Northland Regional Council’s ‘Priority Rivers Flood Risk Reduction Project’.

However, locals asked the Regional Council if the five Hokianga meetings could be postponed to avoid a clash with the latest in a series of Waitangi Tribunal hearings which encompass a number of Northland claims.

Bruce Howse, the Council’s Land/Rivers Senior Programme Manager, says the Council agreed to the community request and has now managed to reschedule all five.

Meetings will now be held at:

• Tuhirangi Marae, Waima, Monday 01 November, 2pm-5pm (to discuss the Waima and Punakitere Rivers)
• Waimamaku Hall, Waimamaku, Tuesday 02 November, 9am-noon (Waimamaku River)
• Mataiaranui Marae, Whirinaki, Tuesday 02 November, 2pm-5pm (Awapokonui and Whirinaki Rivers)
• Panguru School gym, Panguru, Wednesday 03 November, 9am-noon (Panguru Rivers)
• Morehu Marae, Pawarenga, Wednesday 03 November, 2pm-5pm (Rotokakahi River).

Mr Howse says by the end of today (subs: Weds 06 October) the Council will have held about half of the more than 20 meetings it has planned in this latest consultation round.

The meetings are being held to enable the residents of some of Northland’s most flood-prone communities to provide their feedback on more than 20 draft river management plans tailor-made for their local areas.

“Typically we’ve had 10 to 20 people attend most meetings and we’ve had some really useful discussions and input from affected communities,” Mr Howse says. “Outside the meetings we’ve also had some good interest from Fonterra and from local iwi.”

He says the Council is keen to see the best turnout possible at meetings to ensure any river management plans that are ultimately adopted in the future mirror each community’s wishes as closely as possible.

Examples of the sort of feedback to date include from attendees at Waihou, who revealed useful information showing flood maps may be underestimating the extent of flooding in places, while at Waitangi and Whangarei, interest was expressed in improving early warning systems.

Other meetings had raised concerns about erosion and affects on wahi tapu areas.

Mr Howse says people wanting to know more about the project can visit the Council’s website: www.nrc.govt.nz/priorityrivers

ENDS

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