Cyclone Cook: Stump grinding and tidying

The last of the clean-up of the roads after Cyclone Cook should be finished within three weeks.

The bulk of the trees had been removed from urban streets, with the last of the branches due to be picked up in the next week.

Stump removal and levelling berms would be carried out over the next fortnight. The annual autumn leaf pick up, due to start in mid-May, would clear the last of the litter, said Hastings District Council transportation manager Jagwinder Pannu.

In the rural areas there were still trees needing to be removed from the sides of roads. That should be completed within a fortnight. Repairing road damage would take up to eight weeks, Mr Pannu said. Work on a bridge in Duff Rd, Kereru, which needed repair after the storm scoured material away from one of its piles would start this Monday (May 1).

There are 10 street light poles across the district that were damaged and need to be replaced. That will be completed over the next two weeks.

Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule said that the Council teams and contractors had been able to complete almost all the clean-up of the roads inside of a fortnight was very pleasing. “After the storm we had some 30 roads either closed or down to one lane. The removal of massive trees lying across roads is no mean feat and has been completed in an efficient manner.”

The clean-up of Council’s parks and reserves is about half way through after about 80 per cent of Hastings’ 170 parks and reserves were left with fallen trees and branches.

ENDS

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