Media Release: 7 June 2023
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The Sediment and Silt Recovery Fund for Commercial Entities opened on June 6 at 5pm for applications.
This means that from 6 to 30 June 2023, commercial entities (across all sectors) will be able to apply for Government funding to recover some of the costs of sediment and debris clean-up on their land following Cyclone Gabrielle.
Applications can be made on the Regional Council’s website. For those needing support to fill out the form they will be able to get in touch with the Regional Council’s Customer Service Team. The application form, FAQs and an infosheet (attached) are on our website with more detailed information.
Available funding includes grants of up to $40,000 and further funding of up to $210,000 on a 50:50 cost-share basis
We know a significant number of businesses have been impacted by sediment and debris. We will be prioritising the funding based on those businesses who will find it most difficult to recover without assistance, as the amount of funding that has been made available from Central Government is unlikely to cover every business that is eligible.
The Regional Council posted on its Facebook page and sent out a media release, please share the post if you are able to, and share the attached information with your networks as you can.
The Regional Council will be dealing with all enquiries. If anyone is wanting more information contact 0800 108 838 or info@hbrc.govt.nz
In response to Cyclone Gabrielle, the Government has approved the Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) work programme to help with clean-up and recovery across the rural communities in Hawke’s Bay.
HortNZ has developed a checklist to help growers make decisions about whether they need to apply for resource consent to authorise activities they have undertaken to recover from the cyclone.
A copy of this report can be accessed via the below link
Hopefully by now all your fruit is in a bin and you can enjoy a bit of time off to recharge and decompress from the season.
Our classes are now underway, and you will notice changes in the timetable as we have tried to structure courses in a way that they can be more easily completed by our students, with one course concluding before another begins. We also are covering more courses over Autumn and Winter so the majority of assessment is underway before spraying starts. We have updated timetables to be circulated, and if you have any questions about this please contact us direct. There will be some more room changes as we have just been informed EIT will be closed until the end of the year.
The teaching starts again for the level 5 fruit production with Horticultural Business skills on a Wednesday. Delivery has been moved to the Hastings campus. Anyone wishing to sign up still has time. Contact Cthorman@eit.ac.nz
The Post Harvest students are working to complete their assessments. These all have to be in by the end of June.
The 2023 Post Harvest program will be starting again in July, anyone interested in discussing the program please contact Chris Thorman at cthorman@eit.ac.nz
Noho ora mai
Clare
Future young leaders of the industry have just under two weeks to apply for the Hawke’s Bay Young Fruit Grower of the Year Competition, to be held on the 10th and 11th August.
The event, held over two days, provides motivated and talented young horticulturists the opportunity to highlight and hone their technical and leadership skills. The day competition will be held on the 10th August, Ranui Field, Lindisfarne College and the inaugural Leadership Panel will take place on 11th August, Toitoi Arts & Events Centre, prior to the evening Awards Dinner.
To download the application form visit www.hbfa.co.nz or visit HBFA’s Facebook page for more information. Entries close 5pm, 1 June.
Harvest is all over for another year and I’m hearing that those crops that were able to be picked are packing out well with fruit quality looking good. This is a positive for our industry, it’s good for Hawke’s Bay, good for New Zealand, and it’s an important message to remind global markets that we continue to be a world leading producer of quality fruit.
As a Regional Association, we are working hard to balance how we celebrate the ongoing success and vitality of our industry with the need to draw attention to the obvious destruction that so many have endured. For those that were unaffected by Cyclone Gabrielle – we cheer you on. For those that were impacted – we stand with you in support. HBFA will continue to be here to advocate for our industry and to help our growers in any way we can, so please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our executive committee are meeting next week to discuss more ways we can help our affected growers with the funds we have raised so far. Growers will hear more about this in June.
It’s also a balancing act with the Government. Of course, we welcome the help we have received so far but it is nowhere near enough to get growers get back on their feet in any substantial way. There have now been 3 comprehensive reports prepared and shared with The Government to articulate the damage that Cyclone Gabrielle has caused to horticulture and the risks this poses to local communities and the wider economy. These include the BCG (Boston Consultancy Group) report initiated by Rockit Global, our own HB Grower Taskforce report (which includes a recommended support framework), and the government’s own report prepared by the Ministry of Primary Industry. All these reports state very clearly the economic and social consequences if there isn’t immediate assistance to get our growers up and going.
Last week a few of us met with the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to hear them announce their Hawke’s Bay Cyclone Relief Package. Unfortunately, this included very little for growers and farmers. Minister Robertson commented that the reports were very good and aligned and indicated that The Government will make a further announcement in early June, so we remain hopeful for our impacted growers. We have consistently reminded The Government of the urgency needed for action. The biological time clock is ticking along, orchards need to get cleaned up and big decisions need to be made urgently regarding re-instatement of crops and the re-establishment of orchards.
Another area causing delays, frustration, and anxiety for many is the issue of zoning. We anticipate Zone 1 categories to be announced by the end of the May which will hopefully enable those landowners to progress insurance payments and make decisions. The other zoning categories will then go into a consultation process involving relevant parties. Please know that The Hawke’s Bay Grower Taskforce, of which I’m a member is advocating on behalf of all growers to deliver the best possible result for all affected parties.
As recently announced, our Young Grower of the Year event has been delayed to the 10th and 11th of August. Planning for this event is advancing well and we look forward to showcasing the fantastic talent we have emerging in our region. Our industry will continue, and I believe it can be bigger and better than ever before.
Kia kaha,
Brydon Nisbet
HBFA President
A guidance document has been drafted to to help growers appropriately manage anything that they accidentally discover as they are removing silt from their land. The flooding dramatically altered the landscape, and amongst other things, washed bones out of urupa/burial sites, and unearthed other previously buried taonga/treasures. This means you could come across something unexpected as you are removing silt.
Please follow the below link to access the full document.
Horticulture New Zealand has partnered with EAM Environmental Consultants to develop silt removal guidelines to help property owners safely remove silt from their land.
This document has been prepared in accordance with the Ministry for Environment Contaminated Land Management Guidelines, No. 5 (CLMG No. 5), Site Investigation and Analysis of Soils (MfE, 2021) and the Resource Management (National Environmental Standard for Assessing and Managing Contaminants in Soil to Protect Human Health) Regulations 2011 (NESCS).
Please find the following link to access the full document
Guidelines for the removal of silt from orchards market gardens and agricultural land. CD eds
Immediately following Cyclone Gabrielle, the AgFirst Tile Drains project team carried out a risk assessment across all our tile drains monitoring sites to determine any site-specific impacts to our equipment and sampling ability, as well as the new Health and Safety risks.
We have experienced a range of different cyclone impacts across all our monitoring locations. We took no samples during the month of February due to site accessibility and various Health and Safety risks (silt, flood water, bank erosion, collapsed canopies etc). However, after working with site participants and managing these risks, from the 8th March our fortnightly grab sampling schedule continued across all but one site.
With Massey University’s help, we have been carrying out repairs and maintenance on all our proportional sampling and flow metering equipment. This has included flushing them all of silt, realigning them in the drains and some rewiring of flow meter controllers where they were inundated with floodwater. Most of our equipment is now back up and running with proportional samples now being taken, but there are still further repairs required at the sites in Pakowhai and Fernhill where the impacts were greater.
While servicing our equipment, we also downloaded the stored data from our flow meters. We were able to capture some tile drain flow data from the cyclone event across 6 of our 8 flow metered sites, and this is currently being analysed.
The team has undergone a lot of “passive project extension” with many discussions around the importance of drainage, and the impacts of high intensity, high flow events.
If you have any specific questions or analysis angles which you think may be worthwhile to look into and include in our project evaluation following Cyclone Gabrielle, please let us know.
