Whakatane District Council revealed that last year’s White Island eruption has continued to impact its “business as usual,” making it harder to recover.
The council said it had suffered personal, financial, and work-related impacts through its assistance with response and recovery.
Councillor Lesley Immink noted the importance of business interruption insurance – pointing out that the economic impacts of the eruption would likely be felt by White Island Tours rather than the wider community.
Stephanie O’Sullivan, chief executive of the Whakatane District Council, said they could only claim insurance if they had damaged assets, which they do not have.
“This is a unique situation. Typically, to claim insurance, a council would need damaged assets, but we do not have that. The issues we are facing are the soft, invisible things, and this is something we will be pursuing with Nanaia (Mahuta),” O’Sullivan said, as reported by NZ Herald.
“We will also be asking her, as she is the territorial authority for White Island, to take responsibility for the island. We will be briefing Nanaia this afternoon on the unique set of challenges we are facing.”
To improve the council’s communication with ratepayers, O’Sullivan confirmed that they would communicate with the community soon through the Eastern Bay Life newspaper.
However, Deputy Mayor Andrew Iles advised the council to look for more agencies as not everyone in the district has access to Eastern Bay Life.
“This was clear when we began installing the water meters in Taneatua. Everyone thought we were after more money but [was] appeased after I went around and spoke with them one-on-one,” he said.
