A temporary law change is being proposed through Order in Council under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023 (SWERLA) to enable rural recovery works in Hawke’s Bay to continue, as part of the recovery from the severe weather events in early 2023.
September 2024 (proposed)
31 December 2025 (proposed)
In January and February 2023, severe weather events including Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle caused significant damage across the North Island, particularly in the Hawke’s Bay.
In early 2024, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) surveyed rural landowners in the Hawke’s Bay region to understand their needs following Cyclone Gabrielle. The survey results showed that most landowners still had significant recovery-related works to do on their land.
Landowners reported they were struggling to complete these works due to a range of factors, including the scale of the works, contractor availability and extended wet weather conditions. Works included removing silt, clearing slips, repairing track damage and rebuilding smaller structures like culverts, which require a resource consent.
This Order would permit these works on rural land in the Hawke’s Bay. Tests and safeguards within the proposed Order would require those carrying out these works to contain significant adverse effects within the site boundaries, meet environmental standards and notify the council before beginning works.
The proposed Order in Council is in response to a request from the Hawke’s Bay Regional Recovery Agency (HBRRA) and HBRC.
This proposed Order in Council would modify the Resource Management Act 1991 to allow rural landowners and occupiers in the Hawke’s Bay to carry out recovery works until 31 December 2025.
The proposed Order would apply only in the Hawke’s Bay. It would come into effect later in 2024 and would expire on 31 December 2025.
We invite you to provide feedback on these proposals, which will be provided to the review panel considering these Orders in Council under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023.
We are holding a webinar on Tuesday 9 July where the public can learn more about the proposed Order.
Please email your feedback to severeweather@mfe.govt.nz.
Feedback must be received by 11.59pm, Friday 12 July.