Recovery Roundup #19

Kia ora koutou

Welcome to issue #19 of Recovery Roundup.

This week Chief Executive of West Coast Regional Council – Heather Mabin, wrote an open letter to the Westport community discussing flood prevention options and outlining plans of action and who is involved. Read the letter here.

We now have some tentative dates in place regarding occupancy of Stafford and Queen street housing, details on that below.

The much anticipated talk from Sir John Kirwan took place on Wednesday and was available to the general public for viewing via Facebook livestream. No doubt JK’s words of wisdom and sharing of his coping strategies in dealing with tough times benefited some of those who may be struggling.

See below for further updates this week.

Ngā mihi

Did you miss the last Recovery Roundup? Catch up on the news here.

water update

Buller District council staff and contractors are working flat out to develop long and short-term solutions to Westport’s water supply.

The town will remain in some state of conservation order until a permanent fix to ensure public health and well-being is in place. The water supply is currently operating on an Essential use restriction until further notice. A precautionary boil water notice remains in place.

Information will be updated daily on the BDC website by 10:00am, mon-Fri.

Stafford and Queen Street housing Update

Stafford:

A local Iwi blessing is tentatively booked for blessing of the houses on Wednesday 23rd March, houses expected to be ready for occupancy from the week of 28th March.

Queen:

A local Iwi blessing is tentatively booked for blessing of the houses on Wednesday 9th March, houses expected to be ready for occupancy from the week of 14th March.

Read more…

MEDIA RELEASE 2nd March

West Coast Regional Council CEO Heather Mabin has penned an open letter to the Westport Community sharing some updates and insights regarding flood protection and Council plans.

Read more…

Skip location update

x2 skips in Granity for disposal of flood affected waste following weather damage to the area last weekend.

x1 located near corner of Back St and State Highway 67

x1 at Granity Museum

Free disposal remains available at transfer stations and landfills.

Skips will we periodically checked, but if full please contact Westreef: 03 788 9090 so they can be replaced.

Navigators and Flood Recovery visit to Northern Buller

Three navigators and the Flood Recovery Welfare manager travelled to Northern Buller on Thursday, checking in on those properties they knew had been affected by recent weather events.

While out and about they delivered food packages that had been put together from the NZ Gifts of Love and Hope donations. While in these areas, the team managed to also touch base with other less affected residents that had not been on their radar.

If there is anyone in the Northern Buller area that would like to speak to or have a visit from our navigator team, please don’t hesitate to contact the hub to arrange a meeting. If you can’t get into the hub we are happy to arrange a time to visit you – Hub phone 0800768348.

Pictured: Navigator Graeme delivering donated goods in Northern Buller area.

MORE GIFTS OF LOVE AND HOPE FOR WESTPORT

This week the Community Hub received a generous donation from registered charity – Gifts of Love and Strength. The gifts were distributed to flood affected residents in Northern Buller.

NZ Gifts of Love and Strength was founded in 2019, the day after the mosque attacks. Its primary focus is to provide care packages to people in need and welcome packages to new Red Cross refugees in Christchurch.

The team of volunteers also respond to larger scale events. To date this includes the Mosque Attacks, a primary school burning down, the Mid Canterbury Floods – baking for farmers in the weeks after the floods, flooding in Westport, and providing Covid welfare packages.

Read more…

Sir John Kirwan Visit and presentation to Westport community

JK’s visit was extremely successful with many in the community taking the opportunity to either listen to John Kirwan live or watch the live stream of his presentation on mental health and well-being. His six pillars of well being and his free app Mentemia (soon to be called Groove) will be great tools that we can all use to improve our mental health.

JK was very giving with his time and because some events had to be cancelled on Tuesday, due to his flights being cancelled, he offered to spend time with our navigators and hub staff early on Thursday morning before he flew out of Westport. This was a great opportunity for navigators and hub staff to ask questions and chat informally to JK about his journey and the mental health tools that have worked for him.

Our gratitude goes out to Westpac for facilitating and funding the visit. The most exciting thing is JK is very keen to return to … and next time he is bringing his surfboard!