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Silt, debris and waste

Find out about silt, debris, and waste removal and management after Cyclone Gabrielle.

The Silt Recovery Taskforce is on track to complete remaining silt, woody debris, and mixed waste jobs by October 2024, using systems to manage silt, debris, and waste to keep as much as possible away from the landfill in the clean up from Cyclone Gabrielle .

Requests for new jobs are now closed.

If you have an enquiry on a job please feel free to contact the Regional Council by email or phone on 0800 108 838.

The Taskforce was set up jointly between Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Hastings District Council.SiltInfographic 27.9.24

Useful links

  • Hawke’s Bay Rural Recovery Works Order in Council (OIC) Guidance
    The Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Order 2024 helps rural landowners repair damage and to recover their land following Cyclone Gabrielle. It allows for recovery works to be carried out as permitted activities (subject to conditions) where they would otherwise require a resource consent. This came into effect on 20 September 2024 and will run until 30 April 2026.

  • Community Wellbeing and Hauora Grants are now open through the Regional Public Service and Te Whatu Ora partnership. The focus of these grants is to support the health and wellbeing of those directly impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle as they adapt to changes in their lives and navigate next steps in the recovery process

  • Hastings District Council has a waste space on its website to help residents reduce, reuse and recycle.  Their waste guide is a helpful search engine to give you some guidance on what to do with what you've got.

Waste streams

The Taskforce has collected over 1,650,000 cubic metres of silt around Te Matau-a-Māui.

A six-zone system is being used to collect the unprecedented silt dumped on orchards, farms, roads, and residential properties. There are dedicated contractors in each zone working to collect the silt. Silt samples from silt deposit sites are being taken several times a week, and to date all the result have come back clean.

The taskforce is looking at a range of options for storing and using silt in the future, and working closely with other councils, industry, and landowners to develop solutions for the region.

There are four silt deposit sites in Esk, Pākōwhai, Omarunui, and Dartmoor.

We estimate that we've cleaned up approximately 160,000 tonnes of woody debris.

In the Wairoa district, we’ve appointed a project manager to deal with the huge amount of debris around the district, and particularly along the coast, focussing on Mohaka, Māhia, Wairoa, and around bridges. We’re also working along the Napier coast and in CHB in Pōrangahau, along the Waipawa River, and in Kairakau.

Recovery methods that we are looking at will likely include stacking above the high-water line, carting to waste, and mulching.

The Taskforce has two mixed waste processing sites in Pākōwhai and Esk Valley to deal with the piles of silt mixed in with waste. The Taskforce has processed an estimated 125,000 cubic metres of mixed waste.

The sites are sorting through the piles of silt mixed with waste that get dropped off, with plastic, concrete, wood, tanalised timber, rubber metal, horticultural fabric, and more. The rubbish and silt gets separated by machinery and the clean silt (once tested) is then taken to a silt deposit site which the rubbish is sorted into piles and ideally reused.

Silt Recovery Taskforce contractors

These are the contractors we have engaged to complete the remaining jobs.

  • ACM Ltd
  • Phoenix Contracting Ltd
  • Agnew Transport
  • Bareknuckle Contracting
  • Everfresh Transport
  • Nexus Civil
  • ZPR Civil/ Zaxcav8
  • A-Grade Earthworks
  • Redline Earthworks
  • MPT Concrete
  • Boxline
  • 2020 Construction
  • Pro-arbore
  • Hogfuel
  • DG Logging

In Wairoa:

  • Westbay Civil
  • QRS
  • Ngati Pahuwera Contracting

In CHB:

  • Baron Contracting
  • Binhire
  • Gair Contracting
  • Hick Bros Civil
  • Galbraith Earthmovers
  • ZPR Civil/ Zaxcav8
  • Bareknuckle Contracting

Silt taskforce video updates

Check out some of the Silt Recovery Taskforce’s videos that cover how we’re moving silt, looking after the land and our community’s health, hear from people on the ground, and the need for the mahi to continue.

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