Red-stickered homes in Auckland that were devastated following the North Island floods and Cyclone Gabrielle will be decided on later this week.
Since March, homes that fell under the red-sticker category were reduced from 500 to 330. Auckland Council group recovery manager Mat Tucker said that clarifications on the next steps for the properties that remain are coming shortly.
"Auckland Council does not yet have a policy framework or mandate from central government which would allow us to begin engagement with any red-stickered property owners that may be unable to return to or repair their property due to the ongoing and unacceptable levels of risk to safety," Tucker said in a report from RNZ.
Earlier this month, cyclone recovery minister confirmed that decisions on severely affected flood-prone areas were coming in June as assessments on low-risk properties are expected to end on May 31.
Efforts to categorize and decide on flood-prone properties are part of the government’s efforts with insurance companies to build back better or eschew rebuilding at all and instead pursue managed retreat.
“We know it is stressful for residents waiting to hear about the future of their properties and I want to assure people we are doing all we can to move through this process as quickly and effectively as we can,” Robertson said in an earlier statement. “The worse thing would be for us to announce a property or community was in one category, only to change that shortly thereafter. We need to make the right decision, not the quick one.”
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