Good news to share

I have some good news. Last week, the Government provided Northland with $9.51 million in funding for local roading projects. This will provide much needed employment for those who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19. The Far North will receive approximately $2.5 million of the total and this will go towards vegetation clearance, tidying roadsides and parks, safety improvements and footpaths. 

This is just a small part of the Economic Stimulus and Employment Opportunities (ESEO) funding we are seeking to help get our district through the COVID-19 downturn and Northland’s ongoing drought. We have nominated 17 ‘shovel ready’ infrastructure projects for funding and we expect an indication of that funding in coming days. Initial indications have been very favourable, and I am confident we will soon have more good news to share.

But that’s not all. We are also applying for over $80 million in Government funding for what have been called “vests and tools” projects. These are small infrastructure and maintenance projects that can quickly benefit the community and get those without specialised skills back into the workforce as soon as possible. There is no doubt the twin challenges of a pandemic and the drought will have a lasting impact on our economy and many people’s plans have been altered forever. We know these crises are causing hardship and we are working hard to ensure we get the funding we need to reduce the impact.

I also have some good news about water supplies. Last week, we reduced water restrictions for Kaitaia from Level 4 – our toughest restrictions – to Level 3. Kaitaia residents and businesses have done a fantastic job reducing their water consumption. You have regularly exceeded our 25 per cent reduction target and helped avoid the need to use emergency supplies installed at Te Ahu. Thanks to thanks to iwi Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto, our supplementary ground water source at Bonnetts Road is now operating, further ensuring Kaitaia’s supply is maintained.

Last week, we also reduced restrictions for Paihia and, this week, we reduced restrictions for Kerikeri. Our waterways have stabilised following recent rains, but the district remains firmly in the drought’s grip. In fact, the situation for our neighbours in Kaipara and Whangarei is worsening. Forecasters are predicting another week or more of dry weather coming up and we know flows in our more vulnerable waterways will likely lose gains they have made over the past week. The message from Northland Regional Council is clear: unless the Far North receives almost a metre of rain by October, we face another summer of restrictions.

We are working hard to improve resilience of our supplies and have successfully tapped into supplementary water sources for Kaitaia and Kaikohe – our most seriously affected towns. We are also improving supplies in the Hokianga. Planning is well underway to improve water storage in Northland using Provincial Growth Funds, and improved water supplies are top our ‘shovel-ready’ list of projects. We hope to report more progress in coming weeks.