The government has reached a deal to share the cost of buying out Hawke’s Bay cyclone-damaged houses, but it is still not known how it will split the bill with local councils.<\/p>\n
The region’s five councils will this week hold extraordinary meetings to ratify the offer, which covers category three property buyouts, flood protection and urgent roading projects.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson said the package would invite the owners of category three properties “to take up a voluntary buyout allowing them to move on from their devastated residential land”.<\/p>\n
“Councils will work with individual property owners to determine the details of each offer. There are some complexities to be resolved, particularly where the property includes commercial and residential land uses,” he said.<\/p>\n
The government had also agreed to contribute to flood protection projects to give some certainty to those property owners whose houses were assessed as category two and to enhance the region’s resilience, he said.<\/p>\n
Regional council chair Hinewai Ormsby said just how much the government was willing to pay would not be revealed until next week.<\/p>\n
But she said the percentage split differed across the three funding areas.<\/p>\n
The five councils need to unanimously agree to the offer for it to proceed.<\/p>\n