The start of 2026 has been a stark reminder of the difficulties our district and communities face. The severe weather, the State of Emergency, and the devastating landslips and loss of life across the region.

I speak on behalf of council to send our thoughts and support to those who lost loved ones in Mount Maunganui and for the family of David Roe, who passed away in the Waioweka awa.

I want to acknowledge the enormous effort of the emergency teams, council staff, marae, hapū and iwi, contractors from here and further afield, community groups, and individuals who have contributed in a thousand different ways through the events and assisting our clean-up.

It has been a test of our community resilience, and I was proud to see our community come together to face the challenge.

It has also been a test of the resilience of our infrastructure and again our roads have come up short.

State Highway 35 remains closed at Pōtaka and SH2 remains partially closed with regular convoys through the worst-affected sections.

The crews are working hard out there, so kia tūpato, please take extra care and respect our road workers and road signage.

The flow-on impacts of these closures will be felt for some time.

It is always harder to measure, but to lose our vital transport links during our peak season will impact many of our small businesses in many ways.  

Your local support for local businesses will be more important than ever.

It was a firestorm of a start to the year and for new and returning councillors this triennium.

It highlighted the vital importance of the work of council and the role council has in everyday lives.

We have a growing list of reforms and changes under way that will also be taking time and energy to digest.

These include RMA changes, more work through Local Water Done Well, civil defence changes, rates capping discussions and still more on the horizon.

I’d like to thank my council team for their mahi working through this avalanche of reading and thinking.

Heading into this year, I will endeavour to keep the community up to date across a wide range of issues and I encourage you to find ways to stay up to date with council activities as well because there is a lot coming down the pipeline.

The Ōpōtiki News is a great way to stay in touch with local stories, but the council Facebook page, website, livestreams and Antenno are other tools to keep a finger on the pulse.