Residents gathered at the Muriwai Golf Club in Auckland on Thursday night, seeking answers on when they can return to their homes that have been devastated by flooding and landslips.
For several weeks, many residents in the beach town have been living in temporary accommodation provided by friends or volunteers, with some even resorting to sleeping in tents due to the ongoing risk of landslips.
Officials from both the Council and Government agencies were present at the meeting to listen to residents' concerns.
Among the attendees was Brent Bailey, a Rodney local board member, who then spoke with Tova O'Brien on Friday morning. O'Brien asked Bailey if residents received the answers they were hoping for.
"Absolutely not," Bailey told O'Brien.
"We can't address people's concerns and desire to get back into their homes because they're not safe yet. The disappointment, frustration, and deep sense of sadness was [in the room].
"It's a bit of a problem for the council because they can't magic up the answers, the questions are the same ones that we've had for a fortnight 'when can I access my home?' and this is the problem. The council is the single point of information about access and safe access and the extent of the access.
"It's time I think, for central government to step in as they do in these kinds of situations and say, we need the community to be productive and useful and need to figure out how to quickly move from a state of distress."
Since the landslips occurred, residents have formed their own emergency management groups due to the region being cut off at times from civilisation. However, in the last ten days council staff have been able to make their way out and assist the region.
O'Brien asked Bailey what he has made of the response and support from central Government.
"Council is on the ground and discovered what's happening. They are at the point now where they are briefing government and government are now in the position to decide what help they can provide."
Bailey hopes lessons learned from the Christchurch earthquakes can help speed up the recovery response in the region.
"Surely we don't have to go through that same period of discovery to move to the point where we implement some sort of managed retreat from areas so unstable we can't live in them in the short to medium, even long term."
Listen to the full interview between Brent Bailey and Tova above.
You can also download the full interview on the Tova podcast, and listen on the go.
