Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Muriwai, in West Auckland was pummelled by Cyclone Gabrielle in February.
Caroline Bell-Booth was one of the first property owners to complete Auckland Council’s voluntary buyout process on Friday.
Following an inspection of their Muriwai home in the morning, Bell-Booth and her husband handed over the keys to council which buys the property “as is, where is”.
Bell-Booth said she was still processing the settlement, one of four taking place on Friday.
Having been through “incredible and excruciating stress”, Bell-Booth said she felt for neighbours in Muriwai and others displaced on the West Coast and elsewhere who would be watching “this happy moment”.
“I imagine they are in despair that they are in limbo,” she said.
“Whilst I’m one of a very lucky few, for any Aucklander who knows someone caught in this situation, be kind, drop round a bottle of wine or some choccies. Their hearts are very much in distress.”
With 65 homes destroyed in Muriwai by Cyclone Gabrielle, she said her family would be moving on to rebuild physically, financially and emotionally.
”We have lost the future we were building towards, we’ve lost friends, we’ve lost the concept of what we were building for our lives. That sounds very dramatic, but life is all about how you react to it. We’re going to just take a minute and re-establish ourselves elsewhere,” she said.
Erin Johnson/Stuff
Caroline Bell-Booth (third from left) addressed Auckland councillors in September about a fair buyout process, along with other West Coast residents whose homes were stickered following Cyclone Gabrielle.
“The loss that we face still pales in comparison to the loss that other members of our community face. There are families who won’t have their dads at Christmas. That will be the greatest loss for our community.”
Auckland Council’s deputy group recovery manager Mace Ward said it was important to see those first buyouts take place before Christmas, to build confidence in the process and show progress.
“It was really important for those four families particularly, but for others in the process it’s really critical.”
Ward said the buyouts were also important for the technical engineers, recovery office staff working with communities and those providing welfare to impacted people.
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
Muriwai firefighter, David van Zwanenberg, was laid to rest at the Parihoa Farm in Muriwai in February following his death during cyclone Gabrielle.
Buyouts started with West Coast homes because, prior to the categorisation scheme being set up in June, the council had already started some hazard assessments in Muriwai, Piha and Karekare, he said.
”We were further ahead on those hazard assessments across Muriwai.”
The council’s group recovery manager Mat Tucker said more flood-related categorisations are now being delivered, reflecting that flood risk solutions are generally less clear-cut than landslip risks.
Over 80 category three certificates have been issued so far, and 41 more property owners have signed up for buyouts, Ward said.
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The office is planning to have 80% of categorisations completed by the end of March, with the remainder done by the end of June. The last 20% are the most complex, he said.
Tucker said that through the holiday period, for those homeowners struggling, there is a range of support available through the recovery office’s navigators for both practical and mental wellbeing needs.
