Massive clean-up operation continues
In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle you will have seen plenty of fallen and damaged trees.
Our immediate priority was clearing trees blocking roads and causing safety issues. Through the quick actions of the community members, our parks and reserves team and contractors, blocked roads were cleared and reopened as quickly as possible and immediate safety issues addressed. But that was just the start of what is a massive clean-up operation – with weeks of work still to be done.
More than 50 roads around the district were impacted by fallen trees and debris. Over 200 trees came down or were significantly damaged in streets, parks and reserves.
Our contractors and team are making progress clearing trees from our parks and reserves and turning this into firewood for the local communities. Just a reminder for everyone that your own chainsaws and axes should not be used in public spaces – please leave this to our crews who are working their way around. Once they have finished in an area, everyone is welcome to help themselves to firewood. Please be patient until the crew has moved on.
Contractors are continuing to clear fallen trees along residential streets, in Tūrangi in particular. A lot of this work is needing heavy machinery and taking some time so please be patient while this continues. In some cases, there has been significant damage to footpaths, kerbing and channelling. Work to repair and rebuild these is being planned and will get under way as soon as possible after the streets have been cleared.
Taupō, Wairakei, Mangakino, Kinloch, rural communities and other settlements around the district were all in the firing line too of course and work continues in all of these areas to clean up the remaining fallen trees.
It’s been a case of all hands on deck for our parks and reserves team who have been flat out helping contractors with the storm clean-up. As a result, a lot of the general maintenance and mowing work that normally happens around our green spaces has had to go on the back burner. Again we ask for patience while our team juggle a massive workload on top of their day-to-day work.
While there’s a lot more work to be done, we’re humbled by way everyone has come together and worked on the clean-up and recovery of the place we love. Stay safe everyone, please continue to 'proceed with caution' when using parks and reserves and take a good look around before using these spaces.
