Trass Valley farmers Stewart and Jane Mitchell. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
A former forestry camp in rural Tasman has been transformed into a fencing supplies drive-through, to support landowners still recovering after back-to-back floods.
Rapid Relief Team - the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church - put on the event in Tapawera on Thursday for flood-affected landowners - with each entitled to fencing materials worth around $2000, along with a hot breakfast and coffee.
Dovedale farmer Odette Parker. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
One of those who signed up was Odette Parker, who, after the July flood was running her parents 250-hectare sheep and beef farm in Dovedale while they were overseas.
"We've got a creek that pretty much took out a few hectares of crop paddock, which was a bit of a shame, and then fences Dad had just put in got wiped out again."
Her ute and trailer were loaded up with two stacks of posts and 10 rounds of wire along with some strainers and staples, and she said her dad had been sceptical about it really being free.
"He's still thinking there's a catch, so wait till I bring all this home and he'll be like, 'oh my god that's amazing'.
"It's going to help hugely, words cannot describe how helpful it is."
Rapid Relief Team volunteers on the burger bar at the Tapawera Farmers Community Connect event. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Mavis Win lost a lot of land to the Motueka River and said nearly two months on, her farm was still a bit of a mess and covered with sand.
In her 60 years on the farm, she had seen a lot of floods, but none as large as those in June and July.
At least 500 metres of internal fencing had been flattened and washed away in the floods and she said the offer of new materials was humbling.
"The insurance for fencing is just horrific, we have had flooding before and you keep putting [fences] up and they come down, everybody else has got our fence posts now."
Rapid Relief Team NZ director Matthew Smith Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Stewart Mitchell said a creek running through his and wife Jane's Trass Valley property had turned into the Waimakariri River in the second flood.
"I've never seen two storms hit us so close together, we actually did an awful lot of cleaning up after the first one and sort of thought it was going to be preventative but we didn't expect what we got the second time."
The Mitchells had just got through lambing, which had been tough after the floods washed out a number of fences.
"When you end up with like two stock-proof paddocks left on your property it's not easy to manage things."
He was impressed with the event and the fellowship among the rural community.
"We haven't had any financial support, or any other support so a little bit of goodwill and fencing materials is going to go a long way.
"It's really good to see people and share stories and be positive about how we're all going forward to fix things."
A global organisation, Rapid Relief Team (RRT) was established in 2013 to assist emergency services during disasters by providing meals and other support.
RRT NZ director Matthew Smith said it was based in the Hawke's Bay and had experience supporting the community there after Cyclone Gabrielle.
It was the seventh Farmers Community Connect event held in New Zealand, with RRT supporting almost 1500 farmers impacted by cyclone, floods or drought since 2023.
"The fencing is a tangible aspect of it, but it's really about the farmers themselves, mates talking to mates, people getting, connecting, and then just realising that these others have been through a similar situation."
Smith said the event was run like a military operation, vehicles were directed around a drive-through with the fencing and materials loaded directly onto utes and trailers.
"It's very efficient, so no-one has to hop out of their vehicles, they go around, the fencing is loaded on, the wire, the staples, and we even have a compressor here to boost their tyres if they're running a bit flat."
Tasman mayor Tim King Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
Tasman mayor Tim King said the offer of free fencing supplies and a hot breakfast could not have come at a better time.
"The impact on farmers and landowners from Tapawera all the way down the Motueka Valley, all the way down to Wakefield has just been so heartbreaking to see, so for an event like this, getting people together, it is really nice to be part of something this positive out of what has been a pretty negative couple of months."
He said many people were still at the beginning of their recovery.
"They might have just cleared the debris and damage and they're only just starting the restoration, putting back fences, starting to think about coming into spring and repasturing."
King said a lot of property owners had many months ahead before they were going to get anywhere close to where they were before the floods hit.
