Minister of Emergency Management Hon Kiri Allan was in Marlborough yesterday to see some of the recovery work underway along Queen Charlotte Drive and on the Wairau Plain.
At Fareham Lane near the Waihopai River confluence she heard from the Council's Rivers Engineer Geoff Dick, who explained how well the Wairau Plain stopbank network had held up during the July storm, thanks to decades of continued investment by the Council and work by the Rivers team.
Geoff noted that last year's Resilient River Communities funding from the Government had made an important difference, allowing the construction of three major strong head groynes along three kilometres of nearby Wairau River bank, which had helped strengthen the flood defences during the storm.
On Queen Charlotte Drive, the Minister heard from Deputy Mayor Nadine Taylor and Building Control Manager Brendon Robertson at the site of the huge Moenui slip where a number of properties were affected. While the overslip had caused extensive damage to the land and properties, fortunately the road underneath escaped relatively unscathed and, once the spoil was cleared, it was reopened.
The latest Marlborough Roads Recovery Update is also now available containing up to date information on the district's Recovery Zones including Kenepuru Road and associated side roads, the Awatere Valley Road, Queen Charlotte Drive, Northbank and Kaiuma/Pelorus.
This update from the Marlborough Roads Recovery Team (MRRT) notes that the last week has seen progress made across the recovery area although wet weather did mean work had to stop briefly on a couple of sites but there were no longer-term impacts. Please note the new link for the weekly Marlborough Roads Recovery Update here:https://bit.ly/MRRUpdates
The next update from the Marlborough Roads Recovery Team is planned for Wednesday 13 October.
Communities in the Marlborough Sounds continue to cope with disruptions as a result of the July storm.