Businesses in the Far North deserve better - with access to the rest of the country severely restricted due to storm-damaged roads, a business leader says.
State Highway 1 from Kaitaia through the Mangamuka Gorge has been closed for the second time in two years due to damage from slips and floods caused by extreme weather.
The official detour route for residents to take, State Highway 10, is susceptible to flooding, and the Twin Coast Discovery Highway is in no condition to foot the redirected traffic leading to uncertainty for businesses and locals.
Kaitaia, which relies heavily on agriculture needs operational roads to be able to move to produce south without issue.
"It's worse than Covid," Kaitaia Business Association Chair Andrea Panther told Breakfast.
"The only businesses really thriving at the moment are the ones fixing our cars from damage caused by the poor roads," Panther said.
Both businesses and the council are calling for the Government to send help urgently, so the region can get up and running again.
"We need help now, not in one or two years when the roads get fixed," Panther said.
"The lifeline of our community relies on our transport links, this means that our businesses need to invest and they have uncertainty when we don't have those transport links," Far-North District Councillor Felicity Foy told Breakfast.
Panther suggested subsidising things like petrol, and even flying freight planes to Kaitaia Airport would help relieve businesses that need the roads to make money.
READ MORE: Storm-damaged roads in Northland causing headache for locals
"They could bring back Air New Zealand, we've got an airport up in Kaitaia that they pulled out of, a freight plane could make a difference to get the fresh produce out of our region," she said.
There is also concern that the poor condition of the roads will stop tourists from travelling up north during the summer. Both Foy and Panther believe the only way to resolve this is to fix the roads as soon as possible.
There's a call for attention to be focused on both the Mangamuka Gorge and State Highway 10, which have been significantly affected by poor weather.
"We need passing lanes, we need to look at our pavement condition and we need to have secure sections of road for our economic development," Foy said.
Foy believes that ignoring the issues with the roads will have a significant effect on the population.
"We have high levels of social deprivation, we have a population of 50% Māori and this is really important to ensure we have the economic links," she said.
Until the roads are fixed residents are expected to take State Highway 10. It is currently unknown how long it will take for the roads to re-open.
Jacqui Hori-Hoult of Waka Kotahi said SH1 is a "vital economic lifeline for Northland" and they are committed to ensuring it's as "resilient and dependable" as possible.
"The full extent of the damage sustained at several sites through the Mangamuka Gorge from this most recent weather event is still being assessed.
"Waka Kotahi closely monitors all known land movement and slips in the Mangamuka Gorge, and elsewhere on the state highway network.
"However, the increasing frequency and intensity of severe weather events as a result of climate change means that slips and closures are becoming more common across New Zealand, on state highways as well as on local roads.
"We understand that the community is keen to hear about the next steps forward, and we’ll provide more information as soon as we have it.
"We’re completing the damage assessments as quickly as possible, but it’s important that these assessments are thorough, and the work must be undertaken carefully in order to ensure the safety of our workers, with the ground conditions in the gorge still highly unstable in places."
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