Critical roading repairs required as a result of July’s storm in Marlborough are now continuing with urgency during the Alert Level 4 Covid lockdown, thanks to an exemption from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

“The Council applied for the exemption as we know how important this work is to our region. The exemption is great news for our communities as teams can now continue work to repair our region’s roads and reconnect our people. It allows this critical recovery work to ramp up again under strict conditions - and it already has,” said Marlborough Recovery Manager, Dean Heiford.

“The Ministry of Health and COVID-19 Response Group, within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, advised us that they consider this essential road works in Marlborough, in particular to get essential supplies in and deal with any animal welfare and transport issues,” said Mr Heiford.

“However, while light traffic is expected through lockdown, delays or changes in road works could happen at any time. We continue to remind all our communities that any roads that are closed or still being assessed should not be used in the interests of ensuring the safety of everyone,” said Mr Heiford. “Anyone who chooses to ignore the road closures in place does so at their own risk and liability.”

Resident movements should still be limited to essential travel. For more information about essential activities under Alert Level 4, please visit covid19.govt.nz

Recovery efforts continue across multiple fronts in the Marlborough region.

Today, the special committee formed by Mayor John Leggett met ‘remotely’ to decide on a further 28 applications to the Marlborough Mayoral Relief Fund. Of the applications received, 19 were approved, a total of $14,000.

The fund has also received a welcome $35,000 boost from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). This is part of $200,000 in recovery funding unlocked in July to support flood-affected farmers and growers across Marlborough, Tasman and West Coast regions.

“These funds will be targeted to primary industry businesses that have been adversely affected by the July storm,” said Mr Heiford. A separate application and criteria is still in the process of being finalised for the MPI funding and this will be made available soon.

Priority for the mayoral fund will be given to essentials for daily life, costs not covered by insurance and where there is financial burden due to the storm event. Criteria and an application form are available via the Council’s website. Anyone wishing to donate to the fund can do so via online banking. Simply add the Marlborough District Council’s account number: 02-0600-0202861-00 and include ‘Mayoral Fund’ as a reference.

Work is also continuing on plans to hold community meetings with isolated residents in the region, particularly in the Marlborough Sounds and the Awatere Valley.

Mr Heiford said the Council understood the need to hold the meetings as soon as was practical and all possible steps were being taken to make this happen. “We are working on an option of an electronic format for these given the Alert Level 4 restrictions,” he said.

For Roading Updates:

For the status of a road, please visit our Marlborough Emergency Management Official Public Information Map here https://bit.ly/RoadToRecoveryMarl before your journey, and stay up to date on the latest roading alerts here: https://bit.ly/RoadingAlertsMarl

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