An update on the Liveable Homes project, rates postponement, Tzu Chi Foundation, and more.

All Whakatāne District Council facilities will close at 4 pm on Friday, 12 May, to allow staff to attend a function to acknowledge the significant effort devoted to the emergency response to cyclones ‘Debbie’ and ‘Cook’ last month.

The pool facilities at the Whakatāne Aquatic and Fitness Centre will be closed on Monday, 8 and Tuesday, 9 May 2017.

The Whakatāne District Council is reviewing its existing rates remission policy to ensure that it can be applied fairly and consistently to the owners of properties which cannot be occupied as a result of flood damage sustained in April’s extreme storm events.

A water supply shutdown will be undertaken on 4 May 2017, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, for Rangitāiki Plains Water Supply Scheme areas east of the Rangitāiki River.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has provided a $250,000 grant to assist Whakatāne District businesses which have suffered sustained disruption as a result of April's flooding and storm-related disasters get ‘up and running’ again.

NZTA is continuing work to stabilise the slips caused by Cyclone Debbie and Cyclone Cook on SH2 at Waimana.

Whakatāne District Council is carrying out temporary maintenance work on the Whakatāne boat ramps on Friday, 28 April from 1 pm to 4:30 pm (around low tide of 2:24 pm).

The Buddhist Compassion Relief Foundation — Tzu Chi — will generously donate gift cards to the value of $700 to each Edgecumbe household from red/yellow stickered properties.