It’s been a pretty tough winter for those of us in the valley. The only way in or out continues to be via the Ohuka Road and while QRS has worked constantly to keep this access road open for us the weather has been challenging and progress on the new temporary bridge remains sluggish. This long trip has been hard on families and farming businesses alike.

The Guardians have been actively supporting our community, as always. We have been lobbying to ensure solutions could be found as quickly as possible for the Mangaroa and Papuni Roads, including practical support for properties that were needing to trans-ship stock or drove stock into neighbours yards for loading. Great to finally see Papuni Road in action again!

We have been successful in two NIWE MPI grants which have paid for the installation of new Cattle Stops along the main road. This funding allowed the replacement to happen just in the nick of time as they were really starting to break-down. The second grant has supported the replacement of road and boundary fencing for properties that were impacted during the February weather events.

During the year the Guardians have facilitated several voucher drops for our community to support both the actual costs of the long journey into town and also to provide much-needed mental wellbeing support with a physical reminder that we haven’t been forgotten. Special thanks to the Wairoa Mayoral Relief Fund, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council Relief Trust & the Ministry for Primary Industries for their ongoing support.