OTHER

Tairāwhiti / Gisborne Cyclone Recovery

Crown / Gisborne District Council · Gisborne

Infrastructure rebuild in Tairawhiti after Cyclone Gabrielle: SH2 and SH35 repairs across about 170 faults on the 500km state highway network, flood protection and community rebuilding, with managed retreat facing some areas. No consolidated regional total is published. The Crown's 2023 cost-sharing agreement committed $125m for roads and resilience, $64m for category 2 flood protection and a zero-interest 10-year $30m council loan; Budget 2024 added $27.8m for woody debris. Larger figures quoted alongside these ($609.3m state highways, $330m local roads) are North Island-wide. Gisborne District Council puts restoring its local roads at about $465m, or $725m to build back stronger, against $245m received.

Strongest delivery signals Data: Medium

Delivery Confidence Score, 0 to 100, higher is better: a ranking of how strong this project's delivery signals are, not a probability. It blends eight factors, including the election risk and policy alignment shown below.

Breakdown▾

Data current as at 13 Jun 2026, when the pipeline was last checked against its source.

Key facts

Region: Gisborne
Sector: Other
Status: Under Construction
Estimated value: Value TBC
Indicative completion: 2026
Funding status: Fully Funded
Lead organisation: Crown / Gisborne District Council
Election risk: Low

Election risk assessment

Emergency resilience rebuild. Bipartisan.

Government priority alignment

HIGH: Cyclone recovery and flood resilience, strong alignment with the government resilience priority.

Chronology

2022Multiple severe weather events damage Tairāwhiti roads and infrastructure. SH2 repeatedly closed
2023Cyclone Gabrielle (Feb 2023) devastates Tairāwhiti. Crown and Tairāwhiti agree cost-sharing arrangements (24 Aug): $125m for roads and resilience, $64m for flood protection, a $30m zero-interest council loan and up to $15m for category 3 buyouts
2023SH2 (Wairoa–Gisborne) and SH35 (East Coast) repairs begin
2024Managed retreat discussions for most vulnerable communities. Flood protection upgrades underway
2026Core infrastructure rebuild target: some communities may face permanent relocation

Source

Gisborne District Council: roads and bridges recovery ↗ · Beehive: Crown and Tairāwhiti cost-sharing arrangements (Aug 2023) ↗ · Beehive: more than $1 billion for cyclone relief and resilience (Budget 2024) ↗ · NZTA: North Island state highway recovery and rebuild ↗

View Tairāwhiti / Gisborne Cyclone Recovery on the live map →