Regional recovery and resilience funding

The projects will support the economic recovery of Hawke’s Bay, Northland and Tairāwhiti. Work on the projects is ready to begin soon so they will be able to make an immediate contribution towards recovery and resilience in these regions.

The projects cover business advice and support; tourism recovery programmes; remediation from flood and cyclone damage; flood and cyclone infrastructure resilience; and training and accommodation support for the rebuild workforce.

The $10 million to support these projects is the final allocation of funding from the $75 million interim recovery package established earlier this year to provide support for businesses impacted by the North Island weather events.

The 9 projects are:

Hawke’s Bay

• Hawke's Bay Recovery Programme: $1.5 million to the Hawke’s Bay Chamber of Commerce to increase support to cyclone impacted businesses.
• Accommodation for rebuild workforce: $1 million to Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa to develop accommodation for tradespeople working on the residential rebuild of Wairoa.
• Hawke’s Bay Tourism Cyclone Recovery Programme: $1.2 million to Hawke’s Bay Tourism for a programme that aims to increase the number of visitors from outside the region.
• River Reserve: $1.5 million to the Wairoa District Council to restore and improve the River Reserve area east of the lighthouse.
• Wairoa Airport Runway Extension: $1.2 million to the Wairoa District Council to extend the operational distance of the Wairoa Airport Runway, improving access and making it easier to fly in support equipment and supplies in times of emergency.

Tai Tokerau

• Tourism Promotion: $500,000 to Northland Inc to support the recovery of the region’s visitor industry.
• Business Support: $500,000 to Northland Inc focusing on assessing and identifying companies’ needs to ensure they have appropriate plans in place for future weather events and to build capability and resilience in businesses for future events.

Tairāwhiti

• Workforce and Employment Initiatives: $1.1 million to Te Runanganui O Ngati Porou Trustee Limited (on behalf of Te Tairawhiti Iwi, Ngai Tamanuhiri, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Rongowhakaata and Ngati Porou) and Hear For You, Right Here (RH) Consultants and Eastland Wood Council.
• Tourism support: $1.5 million to Nati Growth Limited to support the establishment of a new i-SITE and deliver more compelling visitor experiences.

All approvals are in principle and subject to contract negotiations. Investment values are also subject to change.

Read the Minister’s press release:

Further business support for cyclone affected regions(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz