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Hamish Pryde and a worker from Pryde Contracting were busy opening up the Wairoa River mouth last month in an effort to avert a flooding disaster for the township and low-lying areas. Photo: Supplied / Hawke's Bay Regional Council
Former long-time Hastings mayor and electorate MP Lawrence Yule has been given the role of solving Wairoa's flooding problems.
Wairoa has been dogged by floods for years - most notably during Cyclone Gabrielle when it was cut off completely from other connected towns and cities. In late June the town flooded again - and Mayor Craig Little had led a chorus of criticism directed at the Hawke's Bay Regional Council for its inaction.
The regional council had admitted that Wairoa would have flooded less if a channel to let the rising river release into the sea had been dug sooner. A government inquiry into the June disaster is expected back potentially this week.
Lawrence Yule was earlier this month appointed by the Government to be Crown Manager - focussed on settling the relationship between the Wairoa District Council and the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.
Lawrence Yule, MP for Tukutuki, at National Party's Hawke's Bay Hospital election promise announcement on 8 September, 2020. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone