Business owners breathe easier as vital supply route re-opens for freight

A critical supply route for Hawke's Bay has re-opened to freight trucks today, to the relief of some local businesses.

State Highway 5 from Napier to Taupō was extensively damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle, with a temporary bypass having to be constructed between Glengarry and Te Pōhue.

Tim Stevens is manager of the Chantal Shop, an organic grocery store in central Napier.

He said the road opening up to vital supply convoys was excellent news.

"It means that we can get deliveries in quicker. With our fresh produce, some of it comes from out of town and it just means we can get it on the shelves quicker and it's fresher and will last longer for our customers.

"Our freight companies have been going around the long way, through Palmy, so it just means there are possible delay."

The current detour route was via Palmerston North and took five hours one way.

With local crops largely wiped out, produce has also had to be sourced from further afield, Stevens said.

"We've had to source organic vegetables from the South Island and lower North Island, places that weren't hit so hard [by Cyclone Gabrielle] so that's been probably more of our focus than the extra freight times from Auckland."

Benjamin Fernandez owns a coffee roastery and cafe, Georgia.

The detours were not sustainable long-term, he said.

"Obviously, the people that are more affected than us are our raw materials suppliers, so they're struggling to get the stock here.

"But also [it's] the cost more than anything... The suppliers are not in a position to be able to simply absorb [the higher cost of routes disrupted by the cyclone] so that's tricky for us because it will ultimately be passed on."

The disruptions nearly caused the business to run out of coffee beans.

"We came really close about 10 days ago I would say... luckily our green bean supplier up in Auckland was super vigilant and got around to making sure that it was done," Fernandez said.

"But yeah, there was a period there straight after the cyclone when we had no power for seven days at our main roastery site so it's nice to have a bit of assurance now with the power back and the road re-opening to freight."

He said it had also given him an opportunity to reflect on the business' reliance on Auckland suppliers and had encouraged him to look into others in Manawatū and Wellington.

Essential goods like food, livestock and building supplies can now come into town on SH5 in just two hours.

Watch on 32 damaged sites

Waka Kotahi's Hawke's Bay and Gisborne systems manager Martin Colditz said 30 trucks got through in the first convoy from Taupō to Napier this morning.

"We've had no major concerns on the way through. We have roughly 32 damaged sites with underslips and bigger slips [along the stretch of road].

"We also had geotechnical engineers [in the convoy] to monitor these sites during the movement and it all went well," Colditz said.

But it would take a little longer for the road to fully open again.

"We're currently aiming for the end of the month to open up [the road] for the public, if we can do it safely. There will definitely be traffic management in place in various places [when it does open] and people should expect delays," he said.

"Watch this space."

Some sections of SH5 were still down to a single lane.

When the road does reopen to the public, Fernandez said Napier had one message for people - especially Aucklanders looking for a holiday.

"We're here, we're ready to trade and we're up and running - we're not underwater any more. And we need the help probably more than ever right now," he said.

In the meantime, convoys will continue to run a trip each way every weekday if engineers deemed it was safe to do so.