cyclone hale

Pleas for a forestry slash inquiry on the East Coast have been heeded following damage from recent disasters.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced the review from cyclone-hit Hawke's Bay this afternoon.

Tairawhiti residents have been calling for it since woody debris littered landscapes and clogged waterways after last month's Cyclone Hale.

Forestry Minister Stuart Nash says the Government's listened to the 10,000 residents, who wanted an independent inquiry and the recommendations that could be implemented.

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In the last couple of days, I have read versions the same headline over and over again: 

Will this be the climate crisis event that spurs action? 

Do you know what? I think it might be. 

I think for a lot of people, this might be the summer that really drives home the fact that climate change is coming for you.

I mean, there are parts of the North Island that have never experienced anything like we’ve seen this summer.

Auckland- An unexpected rain event that leads to crazy flooding, in some cases up to the second storey of houses in just a matter of hours, followed by another bout of wet weather about three days later and followed by a tropical cyclone another two weeks later.

Coromandel- About four different storms in six weeks, a cyclone like some have never seen and a road lost, maybe permanently.

Gisborne- Small communities were cut off in Cyclone Hale and a month later, big towns were cut off with no communication.

So yeah, for a lot of people, I reckon this will be the final piece they need to convince them something needs to be done.

Not so much that they need to give up their fossil-fuelled cars, because come on, we all know NZ isn’t going to do much to change global emissions.

But more that, people are going to realise we can’t build on flood plains anymore, we can’t ignore the maintenance of our roading network, and we can’t just plonk things anywhere.

According to a report from the Environmental Defence Society out yesterday, we are going to have to spend huge amounts of money retreating from the climate. It’s going to cost $50 billion, if we’re just moving 50,000 properties at the cost of $1 million each.

Tell you what, our politicians would have a lot more support on their climate change policies if they were realistic. Quit focussing on trying to convince us to save the planet, and just focus on saving Auckland and the Coromandel and Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay.

That’s where our money should be going right now. 

And I think a lot more people realised that this summer. 

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An independent review into land use in Tairawhiti is now locked in.

Ex-cyclone Hale left waterways and beaches littered with forest debris and slash a month ago.

A forum meeting involving central and local Government, iwi, industry and Federated Farmers reached an agreement to investigate yesterday.

Toby Williams from Federated Farmers says it'll be a review into harvesting practices and an opportunity to give foresters the tools to make changes ahead of the next big rain event.

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Federated Farmers are requesting a Government inquiry into the flooding and destroyed infrastructure left by Cyclone Hale.

They claim that farmers located in the Gisbourne area are dealing with extra damage from slash and residual materials from forestry harvesting after Cyclone Hale hit earlier in the month.

Federated Farmers national board member Toby Williams says the slash from harvesting is being washed onto farmland in heavy rain events, and they need Government action to prevent it from happening.

Toby Williams suggests some policy changes need to be implemented into harvesting practices so the leftover branches and debris are chipped instead of being left to wash down into farmland.

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