Uawa Community Recovery Action Plan
Since the Community Hui held in June, Uawanui has been meeting with the GDC every fortnight to keep the “conversation going” around the myriad aspects of the Uawa Community Action Plan (UCRAP). Which incidentally makes for an interesting and unfortunate acronym!
Four months on and much has been done to respond to the flood event. The initial volume of support required for our whanau and community experiencing various forms of distress at the time of the event have largely been taken care of. To Padre, Koka Mary-Anne, Dallas, Kelly, our farming community and many individuals and organisations who supplied food, clothing, fence straightening, heavy machinery or just a shoulder to cry on … Tēnei ka mihi tēnei ka tangi.
Uawanui and consultants Ground truth along with GDC have been working closely with various Government agencies to consider long term solutions around how to keep our waterways clean and our community safe, and to progress and discuss solutions that are now part of the Uawa Community Recovery Action Plan.
Beach Clean Up Update
The Forest Industry stacked the slash above the high-water mark soon after the flood to prevent it re-mobilising, pending a solution for disposal. Forestry had suggested a fan forced incineration method and other options and alternatives needed to be investigated in depth first.
A meeting was convened by Uawanui between members of the Uawanui Sustainability Project Group, members of the Forestry Industry, Fire and Emergency services, Uawa Surf Life Saving Club, Tolaga Bay Motor Camp and Gisborne District Council on Friday 28th September in Uawa in order to find a way forward for the forest industry’s proposal to burn the slash.
The meeting was extremely positive with all parties striving to find common ground with the ultimate objective of making the beach safe and accessible for everyone for the summer holiday season. A consensus was reached for a trial burn to take place within the next two weeks, and if it was successful the burning would continue in an attempt to clear at least the most popular parts of the beach before the December holidays.
The trial will be done using a fan-forced incineration technique to burn the logs. Large fire pits will be dug about a meter deep and 10m square and, using a large fan, air is forced through the bottom of the pit and into the fire, making it burn at very high temperatures resulting in minimal smoke or emissions, and a fast, efficient burn. See picture below.
This is a technique that was used very successfully a few years ago in Mahia after a similar flood event. The same contractor that did that work will be running the operation in Uawa. Uawanui will post frequent progress updates on Facebook and other media platforms, as safety will be paramount at all times. Safety and precautionary advice will be provided before, during and after the cleanup, to keep us all up to date and well informed.
So congratulations to the collaborative leadership of the Fire & Emergency Services, Uawa – Tolaga Bay Surf Life Saving Club, the Management of the local Forestry Companies, Tolaga Bay Motor Camp, Gisborne District Council and a community really interested in making sure we are safe.
Nga mihi,
Uawanui